The Legend of Spyro: Eclipse
by Slink34884
Summary: The war is over, and dawn has broken. Spyro and Cynder have survived their duel with the dark master Malefor. But what now? What comes next for the black and purple dragons? With a new threat rising, and creatures infected with darkness prowling the land Spyro will be needed more then ever. Now after the dawn comes the eclipse.
1. The Road Ahead

_First off, this is my first story,_ _so it will get better as it goes. And a huge shout-out to my Beta Reader, 4Dragons. Thank you so much._

 _This story is a result of my stubborn insistence that the ending of The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon is both the best and worst ending of a game ever. Best because it is fun and dramatic. Worst because it leaves so many unanswered questions. Did Spyro and Cynder survive? Where are they? What happened to the planet? Is Malefor truly gone? Is he one of those weird ghost things?_

 _This is also my answer to this website. The original title was If You Want Something Done Right because at that point nobody had done what I considered a good job at a post-game Spyro story. So now, a story most of five years in the making. Hobey-Ho let's go!_

* * *

Chapter 1: The Road Ahead

The second purple dragon looked back at the tracks that he and the black dragoness that trudged next to him had left in the fresh ash that spewed from the volcano in the center of the burned lands. The two sets of tracks had started out straight and true with occasional places where they had flown over a steaming fissure or a group of grunts. Now due to the exhaustion of the two dragons they meandered back and forth across the vast plain of ruined soil.

Cynder didn't want to show weakness. She didn't want to show how exhausted she was so she pushed on. When she was enslaved by Malefor any weakness was punished severely, usually with beatings and burns. Cynder also didn't want to show weakness in front of Spyro. But she couldn't do it forever and eventually gave into her exhaustion slumping against Spyro. Spyro stumbled a bit with the unexpected weight, but he pressed on. They were a team, and right now she was relying on him. He couldn't give in.

Both dragons were relieved when they stumbled past a bend in the path dragged themselves onto a small peninsula that jutted out over the sea of lava that filled the Burned Lands. Despite the horrid, oppressive heat and the fissures that crossed over the earth belching jets of superheated steam or lava a few feet into the air, both dragons knew that this was where they could find respite. At the end of the peninsula a pillar of green crystal jutted from the earth. Spyro limped to the glowing rock and gently let Cynder drop to the ground near it. He flopped next to her exhaling in rugged gasps. "Go on Cynder," he managed between pants. Cynder's claw brushed up against the crystal and half of it immediately turned black. She felt a jolt of mana wake her up slightly but she was still in need of sleep. There was a flash of light as Spyro also drained the crystal.

"It's times like these that I sort of miss Sparx." Spyro said. He waited for Cynder to make a comment, but she remained silent. Thinking that she was simply too tired to speak Spyro continued. "He'd say, 'you'll notice that I can't shoot magic out of my face and yet I'm not tired.'" Spyro chuckled as he pictured his brother, but there was still no reaction from Cynder. "Cynder did you hear..." he stopped as he saw her, bent forward, her face to the ground. "Cynder are you okay?"

"Spyro I'm not sure I can do this," she said. She had her eyes screwed shut as tightly as she could get them. She was not going to cry. "I just have no idea if we're going to make it out alive or even save the world despite that." Cynder glanced at the other dragon. Spyro was quick to notice the streaks that ran through the ash that coated her scales. "I'm not sure I can do this anymore. I didn't want this! I didn't choose this!" Cynder knew instantly that she had said the wrong thing. Spyro stared at the basalt at his feet. His claws screeched as he tightened his grip in anger.

"Cynder I never asked for this. Five years ago I still thought I was a dragonfly. Then I met Ignitus, who not only saved me and taught me who and what I was, but he was also someone who I couldn't help but see as a father. Then I met you, and I found something else that I had to lose. I was never really friends with the other dragonfly children and I had never met anyone of my own species, and I had found both with you! Now the world is ending and almost everyone I care about is dead or headed that way! I don't _want_ to lose them! I don't _want_ to lose you!" He looked away from her and let a sliver of selfishness slip out. "I don't want to die."

Silence roared in Spyro's ears. He couldn't bring himself to look at Cynder. She had seen him at his worst and his weakest now. He didn't want to put her through this.

But when he gathered up the courage to look up at her he saw nothing but complete admiration in her eyes. "Spyro," she said gently, "I don't blame you. In fact what you just said makes me believe that you are the bravest dragon alive. You stand to lose everything, and you know you might die, but you are going through with it. That is amazing."

Spyro sat up and wiped his eyes. He realized now that he needed Cynder as a friend now more than ever, but something was bothering him. "Cynder there's something that I meant to tell you but never could, especially because we've been chained together. All of what I have done has been based off a... prophecy, and I have heard rumors amongst the guardians that this battle with the dark master will kill me. I don't want to die."

Cynder but her lip. She thought back to what she called her dark age, the years she had been controlled by Malefor, back to when he had first explained her purpose through a prophecy. She could almost hear his deep echoing voice reciting it now.

She remembered how he had explained that two dragons, chosen by fate and both with purple scales, would one day fight to determine the fate of the world. The two dragons would fight in the center of the earth, and whoever won would effectively destroy his opponent. One of the dragons would have a partner that would tip the scales into either direction, and that the partner would eventually lead to the destruction of both purple dragons.

Cynder thought for a moment. Since she had first heard it, more of it had begun to make sense, but other pieces still seemed nebulous and vague. She couldn't tell him he could die, and she definitely wasn't going to tell him that she might be the cause. And yet she wanted to tell him that she could tip the scales in his favor, and that it all wasn't hopeless.

"Back when I was controlled... worked for Malefor," she began tentatively, "he told me parts of that prophecy. Don't let it get your hopes up but..." she thought for a moment, "it says that you will triumph. You'll triumph because..." because I love you she finished in her head. She cursed herself silently. Why couldn't she tell him? This could be it, and she couldn't bring herself to tell him.

Spyro had a goofy grin on his face, and Cynder briefly thought that she had actually said the I love you part aloud.

"Nope, can't let that cheer me up." Spyro looked back up at the volcano and the floating isles that hovered in its heat. Cynder saw him relax. His shoulders slumped forward into a much more natural position. He smiled for a moment, but then looked at her. His voice once again took on a melancholy tone.

"Cynder I'm still a little afraid. Not of the battle, but what comes after," he said after Cynder opened her mouth to reassure him, "I've spent the last four years working up to this. The guardians have been training me my whole life just for this. What if after... they don't like me anymore. I could tell that Ignitus truly loved me, but I could never tell with the others. What if they were only doing anything for me because I was the purple dragon? What if after all of this they abandon me and I have nobody left?"

Cynder stared at him dumbfounded. "Spyro, you have a brother. You have parents. You also have me. Even if the guardians were pretending, which I don't think they are, I will still believe in you and even when you aren't the hero anymore I promise we will still be your friends."

"Will you still want to?" Spyro asked.

Cynder was shocked. "Of course I will still want to be your friend. What wouldn't I?"

"Think about it. Malefor was trained as a purple dragon to save the world, and he ended up trying to destroy it. What if I end up the same way?"

"You won't." Cynder said immediately.

"And why not?" Spyro demanded.

Cynder met his eyes and said, "Because you know the world isn't perfect, just look at Weights, Rafts, and Sparx, but there are good things in this world, things worth saving like Warfang, like the dragonfly village, like Sparx!"

There was a moment of complete silence, and then Spyro burst out laughing. "Thanks Cynder." Spyro yawned jets of fire shooting from his nostrils. "Man I wish we had some time to sleep. I'm definitely not going to win against Malefor if I'm this tired. Anyway c'mon let's go we have no time to waste."

"We have plenty," Cynder argued. "The Destroyer still has to loop around Avalar to complete the Ring of Fire. We did damage it with that little dam stunt. At the rate it's moving it should take at least another day." She looked around at the towering mountains that surrounded them, and the impossibly high Volcano that towered over them like a dragon hiding among moles. "If I'm wrong we should be able to see it coming, and we are close enough to Malefor to beat it there."

Spyro tried to argue, but Cynder wouldn't listen. "Sleep, I'll wake you in a few hours so I can sleep." Spyro opened his mouth to argue again, but Cynder cut him off. "Spyro beating the Destroyer to the mountain won't make a difference if Malefor kills you because you are tired."

As the purple dragon settled for sleep Cynder smiled in knowing that despite the potential for doom, there is no one she'd rather be with, and no place she'd rather be. Okay there were thirty thousand other places that she would rather be, but at least she was here with Spyro.

The part about a partner tipping the scales filled Cynder's mind. She knew that it must be her. She could tip the scales, but in what direction?

•••


	2. Fury

_Chapter two is up! I have the first nine chapters fully written as of now, but I will stagger their publication to keep the story freash._

 _I'll post chapet three in a few days. Here is chapter two as a show of good faith. If it wasn't obvious, chapter one took place during the burned land chapter of the game. This one will take place during the final battle. All other chapters will be after the game._

 _And now the story. Hobey-ho lets go!_

* * *

Spyro pushed all of his hate, his doubts and fears, and all of his anger from his body and forced it into the stream of light he was shooting from his maw. The beams he and Cynder were producing weaved and mingled as they pushed back against the beam of shadow that Malefor wielded. The crystal walls around them cracked, but Spyro couldn't tell if it was from their battle or from the complete destruction of the earth that Malefor had begun earlier.

"Hold on!" he bellowed over the growing screeches as the world fell apart slowly like a crumbling old building. Soon he knew it would buckle and shatter into its most basic elements if they didn't do something soon.

Spyro's eyes narrowed as he felt the energy his anger gave him began to wane. Spyro desperately began looking for more memories to fuel the flames of his fury. When Cynder had captured Ignitus, when Gaul had captured and hurt Cynder. When the golem had almost killed the guardians, the crippling moment when the Destroyer completed the ring of fire and began the end of the world, and finally the moment that Ignitus died. These all shuffled through the forefront of his mind as he poured the energy it gave him upon the demonic creature before him. He could see why he had seemed so promising to the dragons of old.

His skin was darker than Spyro's, but it was still purple, and he had three golden horns framing his head in a starburst shape. His gold eyes reflected the light of his dark convexity and even from several yards away Spyro could feel the heat from his internal fire.

He looked over at Cynder; if anything her convexity beam was growing brighter. She was pouring all of her years of hatred, her fear, her pain and her torment into it. Spyro concentrated and scoured his memories for something that could add even more power to his fury. He pulled an image of Sparx about to be crushed from an old memory, but then he felt himself run out of anger. He had no more anger left, and he was okay with that. He was done being angry, he wanted to spend the rest of his life being happy, even if it was only going to be the next few minutes.

In the moment that he realized this, something changed. The beam of energy that Spyro wielded seemed to brighten and strengthen. Was it possible? Spyro tentatively pulled up an image of Ignitus. The beam seemed to get brighter and brighter. A flow of memories and images flowed from his mind and into the convexity beam he projected from his maw.

His mind kept settling on Cynder's face, and Spyro was astonished by the amount of raw power that thought could provide. He pushed that one idea and felt his will overpower Malefor's.

The larger, despicable dragon crashed to the floor of the purple crystal core. As he panted, working up the strength for a counterattack forms began to float up from the crystal, their blue ethereal forms slowly collecting into the forms of dragons. They slowly began to swirl around the wounded dragon until with a final scream they dove back into the sea of purple crystal dragging the most vile dragon with them.

"We did it, we finally did it!" Cynder landed and almost tackled Spyro with a hug. The sheer happiness that she felt overwhelmed her. The moment that her life, that both of their lives had led up to was complete. They had done it.

The world around them continued to scream however as the last bits of earth splintered from the safe crystal core. Cynder glanced at her hero and could have sworn that she saw the form of Ignitus flicker around him.

"I know what I have to do." Spyro said.

"You don't have to do anything. Let's just go."

"Go where," Spyro screamed, "there will be nothing left. I have to do this, maybe I'm meant to. You just go."

Cynder remembered the prophecy, maybe this is where Spyro would die. The realization hit her like a beam of convexity. She didn't want to live without him, for the same reason that she didn't say what her heart was screaming for her to say. She didn't want to tell him in case one of them died. "I'm staying with you." This way, even if they both died she could be with him. Spyro smiled as his being began to glow and levitate, and Cynder realized she couldn't wait to tell him. There was no telling what would happen in the future, and she would rather die a thousand times, than let him go without letting him know how she felt. She had to tell him now. His glow reached a crescendo as she whispered to him, " I love you."

•••

Cynder felt herself slam up against the wall of the planet's core as Spyro unleashed his power and pulled the world back together. The pressure was almost unbearable, but she could see Spyro in the center of the supernova. How was she going to escape, or survive? Cynder, despite her predicament, couldn't help but feel a burst of affection for her hero. It must have been that her fury was still smoldering within her, but with the feeling of love an indigo shield of her power flickered around her. It was just enough to protect her from the explosion of power.

Pushing off the wall and trudging against the explosion of power, Cynder worked her way through the blinding light to Spyro. She couldn't help but feel rushed. If he used any more power he could literally burn up.

Reaching the still glowing purple dragon Cynder shouted, "Spyro, you did it, you can stop now." She got no response. "Did you hear what I said earlier, 'I love you.'" Still nothing. Sighing she dragged herself over to him, "are you really going to make me do this." Cynder closed her eyes and thrust her head forward and pressed her muzzle to his. For a moment the rest of the world vanished, it was only those two floating in the endless expanse of space. It was a pure kiss that conveyed everything that she couldn't express with words.

Cynder opened her eyes to find Spyro unconscious on the ground. She smiled at him. He looked at peace, which was the least he deserved. She wanted to let him rest, especially after that display of pure power. She wouldn't admit it, but Cynder conceded that she wouldn't have been able to use that much power and still be alive.

Of course every plan vanished when the ground began to shake. The core of the planet began to refill with lava. The purple crystal they stood on was slowly sinking back into the liquid core. Cynder looked around for an egress and almost immediately spotted the funnel of the volcano. They had come too far to be killed by something this asinine. In the back of her mind Cynder hoped that if she died here everyone would assume that Malefor killed them rather than drowning in lava because they were too exhausted.

She grabbed Spyro by the narrow limb that connected his wings to his shoulders so she could use his wings in an emergency. She flapped her wings in powerful movements that slowly pulled Spyro and her into the air. The tendons in her wings burned, as did her lungs as they tried to pull in enough of the superheated air to feed her screaming muscles. She just had to power through it . She just wasn't used to carrying this much weight.

Cynder pulled at the air to coax them higher, but the lava was advancing too quickly. She was about to give up, when she felt a set of talons dig into her shoulders.

She glanced up to find Spyro beating the air with his larger wings. In all the confusion she hadn't realized that he had worked free from her grasp. They flew faster now, but we're forced to circle in the close confines of the volcano neck. Cynder looked back and immediately wished she hadn't. Lava was forcing its way up the rocky tunnel faster than she could fly. Spyro noticed it too. "We're not going to make it," she yelled.

"I'll make sure we will," he called back. "Get above me," he ordered, his horns beginning to glow gold.

"No Spyro," Cynder cried, " another use of fury could kill you." The glow faded from his horns as she talked. "We didn't come this far together just so that you could sacrifice your life for mine!"

Spyro looked at her for a moment. "Cynder, I'm not giving you a choice."

He began gathering energy in his horns again, preparing to create the time crystal again.

Cynder flew at him. "I'm not going to lose you. I'd rather take my chances with the lava than lose you!"

"But we have a shot, with the lava we have no chance." His glow began to grow and solidify around him. Just as the light hardened into thick amber glass the air being pushed by the lava caught them and pushed the crystal up at astounding speeds. The last thought Spyro had was that the crystal would shatter upon landing freeing them before the crystal's magic bled into him putting him in an enchanted hibernation.


	3. Healing

_I'll post chapters one through four (ya know to get to actual plot...sorry) before I get to an actual upload schedule. Again I only have through chapter nine, so I don't want to get too crazy with this whole putting out a whole bunch of chapters._

 _Now astute viewers may notice that this chapter is about a thousand words longer than the last. Trust me they do get longer from here. So far the max is 16-17,000 words._

 _Who is ready for the next chapter?_

* * *

Cynder woke sprawled on the ground, glittering bits of amber crystal glittering on her hide. She raised her head gingerly and took in the trees around her. Long, soft grass tickled her underbelly as it waved in the wind, and a cool breeze washed over her prone form. The bright sun blinded her for a moment before it disappeared behind a thick dark cloud. The heat from the sunlight slowly absorbed into her scales and she couldn't help but relax. She took a deep breath in and then another. It was wonderful to taste air that wasn't tainted by fire or darkness or destruction. The Ancestors knew that she hadn't experienced that kind of air for a while. She was in a beautiful setting, she had just helped save the world, she had just admitted her feelings to Spyro, who was... not near her.

She jumped up looking around for the purple dragon. The crystal, as it had landed, had carved a massive trench in the earth that ended in a crater. The deep pit was filled with shattered bits of amber and a limp purple dragon. Cynder flew down into the pit and poked Spyro. "Spyro come on. Open your eyes!" The dragon lay still.

"Spyro this isn't funny. Please get up! SPYRO!" Cynder scratched him. She head butted him. She even bit his tail, but he didn't move.

In desperation Cynder shot a blast of fear in his direction. He didn't even twitch. She realized now that he wasn't breathing. He needed help.

Cynder wasn't electric so she couldn't start his heart that way. What she needed was a green crystal to fill him up with energy. She boosted herself out of the pit and ran as fast as she could into the trees. She scoured the woods for any crystals, red, green, even blue could have helped, and it almost seemed to be divine intervention when she found both a green and a red one only a few yards from the rim of the crater. She quickly destroyed them to release their magic faster but she still had to get it to Spyro. She took one in her paw, but it immediately absorbed into her skin and released its energy. She took a quick inventory, yet she found nothing that could help her. She was almost ready to give up when a gust of wind blew down through the thick leafy canopy above and pushed some of the crystal shards across the ground. Cynder now had an idea. Cynder inhaled, slowly expanding her lungs to their greatest capacity. Then, reaching for the last shreds of magic that she could find within herself she exhaled. The air accelerated as it curled around her tongue, creating a vortex as it left her mouth. She directed the swirling current of air to the glowing shards on the ground. They were pulled into the vortex and began swirling quickly up the current to her mouth. Quickly and carefully she trotted to the pit and released the vortex. The crystals seemed to fall in slow motion until they landed like fresh snow, coating Spyro's body. Cynder raced to his side waiting for him to wake up, but he just lay there the crystals covering him like armor. "Come on, wake up," she shouted close to tears. "Ancestors please, if you have any power... bring him back!" A solitary tear fell from her snout and landed directly on top of his head.

She waited and waited, and was about to give up hope when a crystal sank into his scales and disappeared. Another winked out and then another. They began to fade faster and faster until with one final burst of green light they all vanished. "Spyro?" She waited with baited breath until the purple dragon moaned. "Oh Spyro!" Cynder cried tackling him in a hug.

"I guess this proves it," the purple dragon mumbled through Cynder's embrace, "you always wake me up when bad things happen."

"Really," gasped Cynder in mock horror. "Like when?"

"You woke me up when you were leaving the temple before the apes attacked. You woke me when we came out of the first crystal, and then the golem tried to kill us. And finally you woke me now after we were almost killed."

"You better believe it. There is no other reason I'd ever want to wake you up," Cynder teased. Then her grin faded and she became more serious. "Spyro, do you remember what I said to you in the volcano?" Spyro thought back to that moment. He remembered Ignitus' voice and he could almost recall Cynder saying something as he was lifted off his feet by his own power.

I...

I..lo...u

I..lo...you

I love you!

Spyro turned to look at Cynder, opening his eyes at last to take in Cynder's green eyes and nervous body language. He stared at her and recalled all that they had experienced, both together and apart. He recalled their in depth discussions that dragged into the night and the burning feeling that arose beneath his stomach every time he looked into her emerald eyes. "I love you."

"Was that the answer or a declaration?" Cynder replied.

"Yes," was all Spyro said.

"Spyro," Cynder whispered curling up by her hero. "You wanted something else; well here I am." She lay her head on his shoulder and they stayed that way for a while.

"So..." Spyro said, breaking the peace of the evening. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

"I don't care," Cynder responded. "It doesn't matter where we are at the moment because we can sleep here!"

It was all that the dragons wanted to do. Spend most of a day lying together, enjoying their closeness and catching up on some much needed rest; it had only been five days since they had been freed from the crystal in the well of souls after all. In fact they could do it for longer than a day. A week, a month, a year? They didn't have to worry anymore. All was well.

"I would still appreciate a general location. Where are we?" Spyro looked at Cynder for confirmation.

Cynder shot him a look that said shut up stupid. "No, I didn't have much time to look around. I had to save your neck, and then you wanted to cuddle." She looked at the trees and the mountains around them. "If I had to guess I'd say we are close to, if not in the valley of the Avalar." Spyro nodded slowly, his eyes were glued to the horizon however.

"Good, there are plenty of caves in Avalar, and from the looks of those clouds we need to move. Now!" Slowly he worked to his feet, he stretched his wings, feeling the tendons pop after resting for so long after repeated use. "C'mon!" he shouted to Cynder then took off. She shook herself to wake herself up then rocketed into the sky after him.

She followed him at a distance and saw something that made her smile more than when he had admitted his love for her. Spyro was smiling and shouting with joy while flying in acrobatic loops and spins. He was enjoying life, something that she had never seen in him before. He looked free, with a huge weight off his shoulders. Cynder almost flew a mile before she realized that so did she. The dark master was gone, and he would never bring her under his control again. She was free, except the baggage from her past that she carried, but in the light of the setting sun that didn't even seem to matter. Perhaps now she could let it go.

Spyro looked back at his favorite dragoness, and saw her execute a quick loop. "Whoa," Spyro teased, "are you having fun back there; there will be no fun from you."

Cynder stuck out her tongue, but before she could retaliate with an insult of her own she thought she saw a suitable cave from the corner of her eye. She dove down to it knowing that Spyro would follow her, he always would.

It began to rain shortly after sunset that evening. Before that the little cave had seemed cosy and warm, but as night fell the cavern seemed to shrink. Both dragons had chosen spots on the dirt floor of the cave. The rain poured down like nothing they had ever seen. The dirt floor near the mouth of the cave quickly became muddy, and a few small cracks in the roof leaked more water until Spyro found himself cold, wet, and laying in a huge mud puddle. He tried using his Earth abilities to create a stone shelter above his head, but he wasn't anywhere near one hundred percent yet after using all of his power. All he could summon was a thin roof of dirt which melted quickly in the downpour.

He quickly looked around the rest of the cave for a new spot. He laughed to himself as he spotted Cynder on a dry island of soil near the back of the cave. He looked around, but the only place that was dry and would accommodate him after his recent growth spurt was where Cynder sat looking out at the rain washed valley. "Hey um Cynder, do you mind?"

Cynder looked up and took in the rain soaked floor and dripping dragon speaking to her. Then she realized what he was asking. "Er... um sure." Spyro wandered over to her out from under the leaking roof. He shook himself to try and dry off, but only managed to fling water onto Cynder.

"Nope go back," Cynder ordered, "you just lost your privilege to be dry."

Spyro only smiled and got closer.

"Don't get closer," Cynder said feigning anger, "or else I will use Fear on you to the point that you run screaming out into the rain."

Spyro called her bluff and just continued to get closer. He stood right in front of Cynder and grinned.

"Don't you dare!" Cynder spat. Spyro shook himself again. Water poured off of his scales and onto Cynder.

"I'll get you for that!" Cynder shrieked as she attempted to tackle Spyro, but unfortunately he side-stepped at the last second sending Cynder sprawling into the mud.

"That was easy," Spyro gloated playfully just before a glob of cold mud splattered across his face. "So that's how we are going to play."

Spyro charged at Cynder, and dove at her, but she nimbly dodged out of the way. Spyro was expecting this though, so he dragged his tail through the mud behind him sending a wide fan of mud in all directions, including directly into Cynder.

Without missing a beat Cynder leapt into the air and began manipulating the air currents around her until she was surrounded by a cyclone. Mud and water got caught up in the thick currents of air turning the grey sheets of wind brown and sticky. She charged at Spyro who had no chance of dodging.

As the tornado slammed into Spyro, it imploded covering both Spyro and Cynder in muck and throwing them into one of the many mud puddles that covered the cave floor. The purple dragon and the black dragon, now both brown, met each other's gazes and burst out laughing.

Spyro helped Cynder up, and then they both flew outside to wash the grime from their scales. Once they were clean, by Cynder's standards that is, they returned to their cave and dried off thanks to Spyro's Fire magic. In his depleted state he was only able to manage a weak blaze, but it was sufficient.

Cynder lay down on the admittedly smaller stripe of ground that was dry and motioned for Spyro to lay down next to her. He settled himself down next to her, but just couldn't get comfortable back to back. At least one limb stuck out into the mud no matter how they adjusted. Cynder grimaced, she didn't want it to have to come to this; they had only declared their love earlier that day. Although they were pretty close regardless. Besides it probably would seem nice after it happened. "Spyro, just quit and roll over."

"What!?"

"You heard me!"

"But won't it get awkward?" Not waiting for an answer he got up and turned around. He settled with his body curling around Cynder's with his right foreleg and wing draped over her side. Both dragons wouldn't admit it, but they were both extremely comfortable. They sat like that for a while listening to the rain pattering on the rocks and trees outside. Cynder was the first to break the silence.

"So, what happens now."

Spyro had to think for a moment. "I don't know," he stated simply. "It's odd," he continued, "not to have a prophecy, or a guardian or you or Sparx telling me what to do next. It's not that I can't think for myself, but it feels weird not to have a goal for once." Cynder shivered, and he was struck by a brilliant idea. He let his inner fire build within him, but he didn't let it out. His belly quickly grew warm, hot even. Cynder snuggled closer reveling in the warmth. "I expect that at some point we're going to have to go back to Warfang and tell them we're alive, but I think we deserve to have a few weeks to ourselves first. If anything I want to recover in a safe place before heading out. It will be admittedly safer without Malefor's monsters walking around, but he didn't create them all. Avalar is safe enough, we can rest here. It will be just like a vacation."

"What happens after we go to Warfang? What then?" asked Cynder.

"Well I guess we could continue training and see what is left to do. We could also eventually settle down. Start a family." He set his head down on the soft soil that they were sleeping on.

Cynder however didn't join him. Start a family? That thought hadn't even occurred to her. Of course she had been living the past week with death looming over her. Did she want a family? Yes. The tingle she felt in her stomach told her as much.

Spyro sat back up, concerned that Cynder hadn't lay her head down. He listened for any possible danger, and hearing nothing he turned to Cynder. "Are you okay?"

Cynder looked at him and smiled. "I'm fine. I just had to think about what came next. I'm ready for whatever comes next." Satisfied, Spyro lay back down. He smiled when she lay next to him and smiled even more when she whispered his new favorite three words. He answered in response "I love you!"


	4. Aftershocks

_This one has a lot more words. Seems fitting considering the plot truly starts here. Who is ready for the actual story? A lot happens in this chapter._

 _I am always looking for feedback, but don't be mean about it. Constructive criticism please. Overwhelming praise works too... no? Okay._

 _As I've learned an upload schedule is expected and reassuring, so I plan to start posting Mondays whenever I have a new chapter. I will try to have a new chapter ready once a month at least, and if I can't keep up I have five chapters in reserve to post._

 _One final note. We have nearly 500 views, but from chapter one to two, and from two to three we have even less. Please keep coming back. This story gets longer and better as we go. Just hold on._

 _Now on to the first "long chapter"._

* * *

Spyro woke up abruptly and knew immediately that something was wrong. Cynder wasn't beside him. He sprung up onto his paws, his back arched and tail up in a defensive position. He relaxed slightly when he didn't see any enemies, but he still wanted to know where Cynder was. He knew that he shouldn't complain about the chain being gone, but after everything they had been through in the past week Spyro hated that he couldn't keep an eye on her.

Spyro slowly crawled to the cave mouth and peered outside. He relaxed upon seeing Cynder sitting on a rock shelf enjoying the sunrise. Spyro walked up and sat down beside her. "Hey look, our first sunrise that couldn't possibly lead to certain death." he joked.

"You never know," Cynder laughed. She continued to gaze out at the perfect eastern light show and smiled. "I never got to enjoy this very much," she said sadly. It was my favorite part about living at the Dragon Temple."

Spyro nodded as he watched the sun come up. It was beautiful. Especially today.

"Spyro what if I do something stupid again, like when I left the Dragon Temple?"

Spyro shook his head at her. "You won't, I won't let that happen. You have a place you belong now. Anyone who thinks you don't shouldn't care. Hell they should be groveling at your feet."

"Thanks," Cynder said, then she smiled, her face lighting up as she remembered something. "I almost forgot, come on I caught breakfast."

Cynder led Spyro down from the mouth of their cave toward the river running across the valley floor. Lying on the sandy riverbank was the carcass of a large sheep.

"What time did you get up?" Spyro laughed, "you hunted, bathed, and were back watching the sunrise before I even woke up."

"Whoa, how did you know I took a bath this morning?" Spyro only chuckled in response. "Anyway, it wasn't that long before you got up, and I could tell you were tired. Not only did you completely drain yourself of power, but we have been going nonstop for a week. How much have you slept since we escaped the crystal?"

"Good point," Spyro acknowledged with a yawn. Now that he had allowed his body to relax, it started to remind him how much it had gone through in only five days. "Now what are we waiting for? Let's eat!"

"I was waiting for you to help me with it. I managed to suffocate it with Shadow, but then I got stuck." She looked pointedly at Spyro. "I'm not one of those dragons that like their meat raw."

Spyro took the cue and prepared to summon Fire. Thankfully it was much easier to call upon it than the night before. In just a few moments all of the wool had been seared from the sheep, and the mutton was perfectly cooked right down to the bone. It was amazing what a good night's' sleep could do for you.

"Ya know it's times like these when I regret not being a normal dragon. Having Fire must be so useful." Cynder said it nonchalantly, and she didn't seem upset, but Spyro felt a bit uncomfortable hearing about her regret. But since she seemed at peace with it he chose not to bring it up.

The rest of the day passed rather quickly as the two dragons used it to catch up on some much needed sleep. In fact they spent three days living like this. Relaxed, lazy days rolled past as they tried to recover from the past week and really the last six years.

On the fifth day after the world ended, Spyro began to get restless. It wasn't that he wanted to go back to Warfang and resume his responsibilities, but he was tired of just eating and sleeping day after day. And so Spyro and Cynder spent the next few days exploring the valley. The tried to avoid all of the remaining monsters that lived in the valley. By the end of the week they knew their way around the entire valley. They obviously avoided the Cats, Hunter's people, and the ruins of the Well of Souls, but otherwise the entire valley from the base of Malefor's volcano to the wide plains that surrounded Warfang were theirs to explore.

Whenever they were bored they would chase each other up and down the valleys in long games of tag.

Cynder was "it" when it all seemed to hit the fan. She had chased Spyro into a particularly dense clump of trees that were close enough to the Well of Souls to make her uncomfortable. She was passing over said trees, trying to spot a flash of purple or gold through the thick canopy, when the air seemed to grab onto her wings. She came to a dead stop thirty feet in the air. Just as quickly as it had grabbed her it released her sending her crashing through thick tangles of tree branches and eventually to the ground in a mound of black scales. Then the earth began to shake.

For a moment Cynder's heart sank. Had they sacrificed so much for nothing? Had Spyro's fury only bought them another week or so? This time she didn't even have her best friend at her side.

Just as quickly as it had started, the shaking stopped, but something still felt off. She felt a weak but unmistakable pull drawing her into the small forest. She weaved between the trees following the pull like yarn in a labyrinth. She could confirm that it was leading her to a small clearing up ahead. She peered into it and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Tall trees surrounded a large, L-shaped meadow. Then at the very edge of her hearing Cynder detected a low hissing. It sounded like a snake was whispering in her ear, but as she listened Cynder swore she could hear cursing insults, dark chants, and the screams of tortured victims. Cynder took a few tentative steps out from underneath that cover the trees provided and was immediately struck by lightning.

There was no warning, no sound. Cynder just felt a huge jolt of energy and collapsed, her muscles twitching uncontrollably. Cynder barely regained control of her body in time to roll away from another blinding bolt of electricity. She looked around and saw another dark-scaled dragon advancing towards her. It opened its mouth and more electricity flickered between its teeth.

In desperation Cynder spit a large glob of poison, hoping to distract the creature, or potentially disable it, but a well timed bolt of lightning destroyed it spraying poison everywhere. She got another look at the dark dragon through the green spray and realized that it wasn't really dark-scaled. It seemed to have a dark aura. Its eyes and teeth glowed with an eerie white light.

There was a flash as another bolt of energy almost hit her. Her heart filled with terror as she realized she wasn't able to fight the dragon in front of her. Every time she moved, the black dragon moved with her. Every time she tried to attack, the beast would counter. Cynder's heart rate spiked when she realized that its pure white claws left behind an imprint of shadow as they sliced through the air. The creature eventually forced her to retreat until her back was to the trunk of a tall thick tree. The ground began to shake again as the dark dragon lunged forward, but he was thrown back as a spire of pink-purple crystal, that glowed so bright that Cynder had to squint to see it, erupted from the ground.

The spike of crystal continued to rise from the ground, its smooth surface flawless despite it being underground. It grew almost as tall as the trees throughout the clearing.

It shuddered to a halt, and then just a moment later a blast of white light exploded from the tower of stone.

Cynder felt something tingle in her chest as the light dazzled her eyes. She felt like her body was swelling as it bathed in the light. The power of Fury didn't even seem this powerful, convexity wasn't _this_ fulfilling.

And then as soon as the light appeared it faded. Spots danced in front of Cynder's eyes, but she was just grateful that she hadn't gone blind. The tingling feeling that the light had left faded from the tip of her tail and her talons.

Something rose up from Cynder's stomach. It didn't burn like acid, or choke like shadow. She opened her mouth a spewed forth a light brighter and more pure than her fury. She closed her mouth quickly to stem the flow, but it simply erupted from her nose. Cynder panicked for a moment, but when she finally got her wits together she was able to dim the light with only a thought.

Cynder took a moment to calm her heart and slow her breath, but for some reason her body refused to calm down. A pull in her gut told her that she was forgetting something, something important. The dark dragon!

Tentatively Cynder poked her head out from behind the spire of crystal, looking around and keeping all of her senses on alert just in case the dragon decided to attack her again. All she saw was a bright splash of light in the nearly chest high grass. Cynder approached the spot warily, ready to fly away at any provocation. Nothing happened.

The bright spot seemed to be a cocoon made of light. As Cynder watched she swore she could see runes and symbols floating in the luminescent cradle. Had this happened to her when the crystal released its power? If so why was it happening to the dark dragon? The light faded slowly, but once it was completely gone, Cynder was able to recognize Spyro's form lying in the grass where the dark dragon should have been.

Cynder quickly backed away.

Could Spyro really have betrayed her? She thought back to the battle in the Well of Souls when Spyro had been suspended in the column of dark purple light. He had looked like that dark creature then too. Then again, when he had felt upset about Ignitus' death, he had also lapsed into darkness, but it was a controlled power. He was calling the darkness in and using it instead of his mana to channel his power. This time was more like the battle in the Well of Souls. He wasn't aware, he was being controlled.

Her thoughts whirled through her head, drowning out but not smothering a buzzing that she had been too busy to pay attention to until now. Cynder realized that the pull that had drawn her into the clearing was still pulling at her. Leaving Spyro, who she assumed wouldn't awaken for some time, she crossed the clearing following the pull. Up ahead the clearing dog-legged right, and the thick woods blocked any view of the other side. Steeling herself for any possibility she dove and rolled around the corner. What she saw almost made her physically sick.

The twisting shape was what hit her first. The spiky writhing form reminded her of rose bushes and other thorny vines. The dark color could only be described as black, although other colors seemed to flit across its surface like a film of oil on water. The thing that hit her the most was the feelings that accompanied it. It radiated fear, pain, and sorrow like heat from a volcano. It also filled its subjects with weakness, drawing away their power and converting it into bursts of dark electricity that arced between the branches of the world's most ugly and unhealthy tree. Her heart sank further as she realized that there was only one person that could create this crystal. Well two. It was time to get answers from Spyro.

•••

Spyro dreamed, and in his dream he was somewhere he recognized. He stood on a small rock island suspended in a dark purple ether, and despite the fact that he knew that his body was somewhere near Avalar, he felt the rock under his paws. He didn't panic however. He had been here before.

"Chronicler, why have you called me here again?" Clumsily he glided down from floating rock to floating rock until he stood before the element gate that protected the Chronicler's dream realm. Earlier during his adventures the Chronicler had helped him unlock his powers by holding him in the dream realm until he could make it across the dreamscape to the scrying pool that was also a gateway back to his body. One of the obstacles were element gates that would only open after a blast from an elemental fury of the same type.

Spyro stepped up onto the first part of the element gate, a raised dais that cracked with the specific energy that the Chronicler wanted him to focus on. The brilliant white light that surrounded the dais like an aura quickly made him realize that that this wasn't an element he recognized. "Hey," he shouted, only hoping that the Chronicler could hear him, "this isn't one of my elements. How will I get through?"

Foreign thoughts entered his head in a familiar, yet not quite _the familiar_ voice of the Chronicler. "What? The great purple dragon can't wield the power of light? I thought you were better than that. Even your mate has figured it out faster than you have."

"Cynder? What has she got to do with this? And she's not my mate." Spyro said quickly.

"Oh?" Spyro would have bet that if he could see the Chronicler's face he would have a raised eyebrow.

"It's complicated, I'm not exactly sure what we are. All I know is that I love her." Spyro finished looking down at the circle of light visible between his paws. Something wasn't quite right about the Chronicler. He usually never strayed from the topic at hand and never teased. What was even more odd was the way he spoke casually about Spyro's personal life. Before he had only talked about Spyro's mission. The purple dragon hoped that his tone meant that this would be more of a conversation between friends than a life or death meeting.

"I can tell that she really loves you. In fact right now she is panic stricken about you." This realization filled Spyro's heart with warmth. He had experienced this kind of feeling before, but now he found that he could channel it like any of his other abilities.

He remembered when he used his first elemental attack on those apes that were trying to kill Sparx. He had felt his anger rising and had unconsciously focused it on his mouth and throat planning on unleashing a powerful war cry while doing his best to physically overpower the apes. Now through his training he knew how to focus his power on his claws, tail, and horns in order to add some "oomph" to his melee attacks, or flood his body with it and purge the element from his system in an explosive process known as Fury.

Slowly so as not to overwhelm his weary body, Spyro allowed the strange energy flow along with his blood to every nook and cranny his small body had to offer. A thought struck him. "Chronicler, is this safe. This would be my third major Fury in a week. Last time I used up all of my energy and it almost killed me."

"Spyro, the Furies you used to save the planet and escape the volcano were meant to be more like defense mechanisms. To be used only in emergencies. This Fury, in comparison, will only use a fraction of the power." Nodding the purple dragon let the energy flow more quickly. Almost immediately it gained enough momentum to lift his from the ground. He charged every cell of his body to its limit and with a strangled cry let it burst from his being.

To an observer the event would have looked like a miniature sun came to earth and landed on top of Spyro. But in all the heat and light nothing was destroyed. The light grew brighter and brighter as it expanded, and every time something entered the glow the light would briefly flare brighter. Suddenly the light seemed to buckle and bulge. In an instant the light collapsed in on itself and everything within was incinerated in an instant. Then there was an even bigger explosion, a blastwave of pure energy, that extended ten times as far as the original sphere of light.

The light faded slower than any other Fury he had ever used. The delay of the blast, and really any effect on the things he wanted to destroy pleased him. Before he had discovered convexity, Spyro had always been afraid to use his Fury. Whenever he did, he would always warn Sparx, but that gave enemies a warning as well. Once he landed back on the dais the element gate dropped allowing him past.

"Let me tell you about light. It is a rare power that can only be bestowed by the Ancestors that inhabit the planet crystal; the large purple crystal in the center of the planet. Light can be used in the obvious, to light dark areas and blind enemies. Light also has the characteristics of all other elements and can be used like they can. As you have seen light can burn, it can jolt and paralyze. It can even be used physically. Light also has certain purifying properties, and can be used to heal."

Spyro wound his way across the small floating isles that made up the sky scape. Every time he deviated from the path a bright blue flash emanated from the scrying pool. Eventually he entered through the portal gate by walking between two Malefor statues. He grinned as he recognized that they had cracked and crumbled in places. It was perhaps the greatest proof to Spyro that the Dark Master was gone for good. The scrying pool looked like it had the last few times he had visited, except this time there was a huge blue and white dragon standing in the strange reflective liquid. His back was to Spyro.

"I summoned you here for two reasons. One, I will admit, was selfish." He turned around and Spyro saw his face. He cried out as he realized why the Chronicler seemed different. Ignitus smiled back behind his mask of blue scales. Spyro ran to him and hugged him as best he could. "This is exactly what I hoped would happen. You aren't mad." Ignitus looked down at the purple dragon he had wrapped around his leg.

"Not really, but when you first died it was almost enough to 'turn' me."

"Turn you?" Ignitus asked.

Spyro didn't want to look at Ignitus. Looking down at his feet was easier. "Did I tell you about the Night of Eternal Darkness? Did I tell you about how I got a taste of Malefor's power as he was awakened? That taste of darkness... Ignitus it was addicting. I felt like suddenly I had an endless pool of mana to draw off of. I was also able to combine my elements for the first time, it's how I learned convexity. When you died I welcomed the darkness back in. I thought, no I knew that I could change things. I could rip a hole in reality and bring you back. If it wasn't for Cynder I would have done it."

"There was no harm done," Ignitus said gently, "and you learned from it. Why are you beating yourself up about this?"

"Because I was so focused on bringing you back that I almost killed Cynder. I forgot about the chain, or maybe I just didn't want to think about it. If I had come to bring you back she would have been dragged along into the Ring of Fire. She would have been vaporized! When she tried to stop me I told her nobody could stop me. Then she told me that it was my own choice, that only I could stop myself."

"Spyro, don't you understand," Ignitus said sternly, "the fact that this eats away at you just proves why this won't happen again! You love her, I know you do, and she loves you back. She loved and trusted you enough to know that you would make the right choice, and you loved her enough to protect her. But this darkness that you felt was my other reason for bringing you here. Why I taught you light and brought you here instead of my new white isle. You remember what happened in the planet's core?"

"Yeah, Malefor was knocked down by our convexity, and then five of the ancestors came and dragged him down into the planet crystal. Why?"

Ignitus bit his lip. "I wish I could protect you from this. There have been suspicious signs."

"Signs of what?" Instead of answering, Ignitus gestured to the pool. Spyro walked up to it and immediately the swirling blue liquid within solidified until Spyro was convinced that he was looking through a window. Except for a slight murkiness around the edges, it could have been a midair window looking down at a small, L-shaped meadow. He saw himself crumpled on the ground and Cynder sitting beside him looking concerned. "What does this have to do with..."

"Shhh, just watch." As Ignitus spoke, the vision began to move backward as if time was reversing. They watched as Cynder got up and walked backward across the meadow where it curved. She moved around the corner and Spyro gasped as she came right up to a twisted black monolith of dark crystal. She circled around it a few times, still moving backwards. She eventually made it to where she was facing the pillar of crystal with her mouth open in shock. A few moments later she backed up through the meadow until she was between his crumpled body and a huge shard of purple-pink crystal. Suddenly a huge, bright, ball of light burst into view. It continued to grow brighter and brighter as time rewound. It grew so bright that it seemed to fill the whole world. The light was finally sucked back into the crystal revealing the dark dragon in Spyro's place.

"What!? Is that me? How did this happen? How come I'm like this? And what about that purple crystal? Or the dark crystal for that matter?" Ignitus continued to stare resolutely at the image in the pool.

The spire of crystal sank back into the ground revealing Cynder cowering against the trunk of a huge tree. The dark Spyro seemed to inhale several lightning bolts as he backed away from an advancing Cynder, and then Cynder dodged aside only to fly from the clearing backwards. The dark Spyro lingered for a moment before running backwards toward the dark crystal. He fell to the ground beside it, and then was lifted up to it. There was a bright flash and suddenly Spyro saw his normal self flying into the trees. The reverse image seemed to speed up; Spyro saw the sun arc overhead and disappear behind the mountains only to reappear seconds later. The nights and days passed quickly, but the picture slowed down during what Spyro calculated as the first night after the world ended, just before the rain stopped. They watched with baited breath as the lighting in the clearing slowly became blood red. Spyro vaguely remembered the lunar eclipse that night. The second all of the light had vanished, except for this eerie red glow,the monolith shook and slowly sank into the ground.

"What was all that?" asked Spyro. His wide eyes searched his mentor's for a glimpse of hope.

Ignitus grimaced, "I don't know. But I have the feeling that Malefor, or at least his influence isn't done. I also find it odd that that spire of Planet Crystal saved Cynder. We must remain vigilant. I'm sorry to keep you from your vacation, but you must warn the guardians of this threat." Spyro's vision began to fade as he sank into the pool. "Good luck, my son." Ignitus said before Spyro was pulled from the dream.

•••

Cynder felt hopeless. Spyro looked dead, yet he was still breathing. She tried everything to wake him up. She had hit him with a blast of fear, even done her wind trick with an energy crystal. She finally just sat there staring at him, but he still didn't wake up.

And then just as it seemed that they would both have to spend the night in the clearing, Spyro jumped up from the ground, and Cynder almost had a heart attack. He spotted Cynder and immediately took her in his wings and hugged her. "I'm sorry." Spyro said.

"How did you know about it? Where you aware!?" Cynder panicked.

"Of course not. Once you knocked me out the Chronicler called me to the dreamscape again. He showed me what happened. Guess what, Ignitus is alive!"

"Did the Chronicler show you where he was!?" Cynder was beaming. Besides Spyro, Ignitus had been the first to be nice to her.

"No, he was the Chronicler." Despite the fact that he had just technically attacked the love of his life Spyro had never looked happier. "I also think..., I think he admitted he was my father. I knew I felt a connection to him. Anyway he also had some bad news; apparently that pillar of dark crystal wasn't there a few days ago. It appeared a few nights ago during the lunar eclipse. Ignitus also said that we have to warn the guardians."

"So much for our vacation. Should we destroy the monolith, we destroyed every other dark crystal."

Spyro thought for a moment. "No, these seem different. I was transformed just by touchingit." Cynder snorted and a jet of light shot from both of her nostrils. She blushed slightly. "Ignitus explained that too. Apparently the 'planet crystal' only bestows that upon certain dragons."

"But I didn't have this yesterday. How'd I get it? Unless..." both dragons looked over at the purple crystal that was poking out of the earth.

•••

Warfang looked almost exactly like it had when they had left to defeat the destroyer. Cynder and Spyro were perched on a hill near the east wall of the city. Spyro remembered Hunter's people charging the flank of the attacking army from here.

"This is it. There is no going back after this point. Are you sure that we can't have another few days of vacation before we deal with this?" the dark dragoness implored.

"I'm sorry, but Ignitus said that this was important." Spyro leaped off the hill side and flew toward the gates. As soon as they rose high enough to see over the wall an alarm sounded inside the city.

"Were they waiting for us?" Cynder asked. They were still too far away to see any details, but they could see several figures, probably moles, rushing across the battlements of the city. The golden catapult in the center just above the main gates glinted as it turned. The alarm suddenly quit followed by a huge smack. Had they recognized the two dragons and were they preparing a welcome?

Cynder cried out as a net seemed to materialize around her. "Spyro!" she cried. Spyro dove roaring, flames streaming from his open mouth. He tucked his wings as close as he could to his sides just to keep pace with her.

"Close your eyes!" Spyro shouted just before he activated his comet dash wreathing himself in flames. She did just as Spyro impacted with her ensnared body. She felt the net vaporize almost instantly in the intense heat just as Spyro caught her paw in his and held her aloft until she could recover.

Once she got her wings under her again they continued to close in on the city again. They dodged nets and bolos by the ton. At least ten miles of rope had to have landed in the field outside of Warfang by the time the two smaller dragons made it to the walls. Immediately they were surrounded by moles; each of them holding a drawn crossbow.

"Don't move or I'll make you both a pincushion. Sit tight while we fetch the guardians." The lead mole said.

"Corporal, don't you recognize me?" Spyro asked stepping forward. A new recruit instinctively pulled the trigger sending a quarrel rocketing on a course that would send it directly into his brain. With a flash of silver it fell to the ground snapped in half. Cynder snarled at the mole, her tail blade raised and ready for another strike.

"Just try that again," she hissed. The moles backed away slightly and they looked horribly afraid.

"Isn't that Cynder," one asked, "the terror of the skies? What is she doing with him?" Is she protecting him? Why? So she can kill him herself?"

Another mole whispered back, "I saw him save her from one of our nets. He should have let her fall." Tears were about to fall from her eyes, but she stubbornly held them back. What was with these moles? During the battle of Warfang they had treated her with respect and repeatedly asked for her help. Why were they acting like this now?

Cynder figured it out a moment later. That had been war time. The people of Warfang had been desperate for any help they could get. She wasn't actively attacking them, so therefore she was an ally. Now they could take the time to realize who she actually was.

Spyro said enough for both of them. "If I hear anymore about Cynder," he roared, "I will show everyone here the full power of a purple dragon, and let me tell you, it will be your last experience!" He turned to the mole who had whispered about killing Cynder. "I think you owe Cynder an apology." That shut the moles up quick. They all seemed afraid to speak, but upon a cue from Spyro they apologized. One brave one however mumbled to himself.

"Malefor jr.," he said. Cynder looked to see Spyro's reaction. She was surprised when she saw an equal amount of rage and shame flash across his face. It was almost miraculous that the guardians arrived at that moment. When they saw who the newcomers were they stopped in their tracks. "Spyro?Cynder? We were about to give up hope." The thundering voice of Terrador sounded like boulders grinding across each other.

"Spyro? Cynder? Really? Oh this is marvelous, astonishing, astounding. I am so happy that you two are alive and made it back, although I always believed you would unlike Cyril who spent at least two days pacing through the caverns underneath Warfang asking if we should send other dragons after you..." Cynder couldn't help but smile. Even after this horrible day Volteer always had the ability to make her smile.

"Oh shut up you!" A colder voice orated from the back of the group. Everybody made way for Cyril as he stepped forward. Cynder shivered involuntarily, and it wasn't just because Cyril was an Ice dragon. There was just something about the blue dragon that made Cynder feel uneasy. Even when she had captured him years ago he had somehow unnerved her. "Oh, it's you two. Welcome back to Warfang." Cynder recognized that it was probably just the type of dragon he was, but he seemed overly cold and distant.

"Hey guys. I thought you were going to tell me when the moles summoned you. I know I can't eat crystals or spit lightning, but doesn't my opinion matter as well." The sharp nagging voice was instantly recognizable for almost everyone on the walls. Sparx had taken his duty from Spyro very seriously that he oftentimes helped keep watch on the walls of the city. Most of the moles had created a betting pool on how long he would last before somebody squashed him. Sparx finally made his way through the press of scales, fur, and cloth until he found himself pressed up between two sets of odd scales. His face was pressed up against black scales, and his back was up against bright purple ones. "Hey bro," he said hesitantly, "welcome home. It's great that you didn't die. Hey I'm glad for all the physical contact, but could you help me. The she-demon is crushing me." Both dragons moved apart sending Sparx sprawling to the ground. He popped up and hugged Spyro's snout. "Dude I knew you could do it! And you," he said turning to Cynder, "thanks for taking care of him."

"I did my best, but it's almost like he looks for trouble," Cynder joked.

"I know ever since he learned he was a dragon he just keeps leaping headfirst into trouble," Sparx conceded.

"I'm glad you two are bonding," Spyro laughed, "but we have things we need to discuss with the guardians."

"Perfect," Terrador rumbled, "we have quite a few questions for you two as well. Should we retreat to the Dragon Temple? You two are staying right?" Terrador seemed to be cut from the same cloth as Ignitus. Both really did care, and both were wiser and more empathetic than most dragons their age. The only difference it seemed was that Terrador expressed much less of his emotion, but both Spyro and Cynder understood that.

"Of course," Spyro replied, "What?Were you planning on only hosting us for a night? No such luck my friend. Cynder and I were here to stay." He looked around at the assembled moles, and of course Sparx before he leaned in towards Terrador who lowered his head to listen. "And the Chronicler has some information he wants me to pass on to you," he whispered.

Terrador nodded and began to lead the small group of dragons down off the walls and into the city. Spyro noticed sadly that most of the grand staircases leading from the streets up to the battlements were cracked and destroyed. In fact the whole city looked much worse than it had the last time he had seen it. Sure it had just been through a war, and the literal end of the world, but that damage being reflected on such a noble and beautiful city made it seem so much worse.

They paraded down the stairs and into the small courtyard where the main gates were. Spyro eyed the magic braziers that kept the doors shut. They burned, but Spyro knew that an overwhelmingly substantial blow would put them out. He stopped when Cynder threw out her wing and struck his shoulder.

"Spyro look, is that what I think it is?" From the gates they had great views of several streets that ran the length of Warfang. Down the alley to their right something was different. There was something in the middle of a courtyard several blocks down the street. Four element barriers blocked access to a tall pillar of black crystal that stood in the center of a fountain. Cynder continued to stare in horror until a dark figure charged the barriers. He hit the innermost electricity barrier and flew back slamming into the side of a building, but not before everyone got a good look at him.

It was a mole, that much was certain, but he looked so much different. Instead of short brown fur, oily blackness clung to his skin, twisting and shifting so much that it looked a lot like smoke. His two front teeth extended from his mouth, and they glowed eerily against his dark fur. But the worst part were his soulless glowing white eyes that seemed to lock onto Spyro and Cynder.

Terrador interrupted their mute horror. "Let's wait until we reach the temple; we can talk there. How is it that you know about these crystals?"

"Let's wait until we are somewhere safe to discuss this," said Spyro. The small group walked awhile longer, then Spyro asked, "When you said temple I hope you didn't mean the Dragon Temple, you know the one on the cliff by the swamp?"

Terrador smiled, "What good is a dragon city without a training ground for dragons. We have one within the city that is almost identical to the one in the mountains. Besides that one is serving a different purpose at the moment. But again this can wait until we get to the temple."

It took most of the day to make it across nearly the entire city. By the end Cynder was leaning heavily on Spyro. He tried to hide his exhaustion, but he wasn't doing well. He wrapped his wing around her as they walked. When they made it to the temple, Terrador opened the grand front doors by slamming his front paw into the ground.

The Dragon Temple was huge, covering almost as much space as eight city blocks right in the center of the city. The building was mostly square and was constructed from a bright tan stone much like the rest of the city, although the almost one thousand thick windows told visitors that it was a very important building. The temple reminded Spyro of a castle more than a temple. There were huge soaring towers on each of the four corners, and at least ten turrets pierced the sky. The great front doors lead into a grand entrance hall with a huge marble statue of a dragon taking center stage. Spyro blushed as he realized that the relatively new statue was of him. "The moles put that up last week as a memorial to you," Terrador affirmed a moment later.

The Earth Guardian looked over his shoulder at his young charges to see their reaction. He took one look at the adolescent dragons and declared that they should get some sleep before they talked. They both nodded glad for a reprieve. Terrador summoned a passing mole and told him to lead them to their room. Cynder felt her exhaustion keenly as they traveled up three flights of stairs and down endless corridors. Eventually they made it to the west wall where the mole led them both to adjacent rooms and left them to get settled.

Spyro bid Cynder goodnight, and then he took a good look around his room. There was a small bookshelf in the corner, and several maps and charts decorated the walls. In one corner there was a sleeping mat on a large dais that provided cushioning to protect against the hard stone floor. Opposite the thick wooden door that led to the hallway there was a pane of glass that swung on hinges. After careful inspection Spyro noticed a clasp on the outside and concluded that the window could only be opened from the inside. Outside the huge window was a large stone balcony with a beautifully carved railing. He sat out here watching the sunset. Only with the rise of the moon did he go to bed.

•••

Spyro snapped awake in complete darkness. It took him a moment to adjust to his surroundings. After almost three years of running around trying to save the world he found it funny that sleeping indoors on a bed was a surreal experience.

His gaze wandered the room wondering what had awoken him. Nothing immediately caught his attention and he found himself slowly drifting back to sleep. _Tic,tic,tic!_ A strange tapping noise jolted Spyro awake. He blearily got up and crept slowly to the door. Who could be knocking at his door this late. He reached up to open it when a thought struck him. What if it was a dark creature? What if they had broken through the element barriers?

Spyro stood at the door for a while paralyzed by indecision. He had just made up his mind when, _tic, tic,tic_ , the tapping sound came again. Spyro whirled completely around to face the window. The moon was only a quarter tonight, and it had yet to rise, so Spyro couldn't see anything beyond the thick glass.

 _Tic,tic,tic_ the tapping was incessant now, but Spyro didn't know what it was. Or maybe who it was. He strained his eyes to try and see through the dimness surrounding the window. He still couldn't see anything.

Spyro felt a warm tingling sensation awaken in his chest as he desperately tried to see through the pitch-black night. It reminded him of the feeling he had when he had been reunited with Ignitus. Unconsciously he concentrated his new light energy into the tips of his horns causing them to glow with a pale waxy light much like the moon. The glow revealed Cynder shivering on the balcony.

"Get in here!" he shouted throwing the window open, "what were you doing out there? What were you thinking?!"

She hopped through and managed through chattering teeth, "I had to come and see you. Oh and thanks for opening the window," she added with a touch of sarcasm. Spyro's expression softened and he began to breathe little jets of Fire over her scales to warm her up.

"There's a hallway over there," he grumbled.

"Haven't you tried your door? We're locked in. The balcony was the only way."

"Fine. Anyway why did you need to see me?"

Cynder opened her mouth, and then visibly seemed to wilt. "I don't remember. I know I wanted to say something but... I was out in the cold for quite a while," she added pointedly.

"Sorry," Spyro rolled his eyes. "I guess you're right I did lock you out there for so long. Say, why do you think they locked us in?"

"I believe it has something to do with security, but it could also be that they don't want us to leave. You heard Terrador today. They are just as scared as we were about those crystals. They need us, and we could be considered a flight risk."

"Why do you say that?" Spyro asked.

"Well there was the time where I ran off just before the Apes invaded the Temple, and the time that you actually ran away later that night. And if course now that the prophecy is over, you might just decide to leave."

"What do you mean?" Spyro said cocking his head.

"You are done with the prophecy. You don't owe them anything. Except for your brother you don't have anything holding you back. You could leave tonight with him and me and never have to worry about anyone's problems anymore."

"No I couldn't," Spyro protested. He was extremely confused about what Cynder was suggesting. "These people need help. I can't just leave."

"And that is why I love you," Cynder said as she nuzzled Spyro. He smiled and leaned forward so he could rub more of his snout along Cynder's. she stepped forward, until she was sitting almost directly between his front paws and began nuzzling his chest and neck. Spyro sat down and scratched his paws up and down Cynder's back.

"Oooh, you're warm," she purred deeply.

Spyro stretched his neck out as far as he could, because in her energetic passion the spikes on the back of her head were getting dangerously close to his throat. Cynder fixed it by raising her nose and rubbing it along Spyro's jaw.

Spyro reveled in the contact. He loved everything about Cynder, even being around her. It could have gone on a lot longer, but Cynder let out a huge yawn into Spyro's chest.

"I guess I should get back to my own room and get to sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow. Cynder managed to untangle herself from Spyro. "Goodnight," she said as she turned and pushed open the window. A blast of cold air from outside rushed into the room as Cynder pushed open the window. Cynder opened her wings and threw herself through the portal. The window slowly swung shut, but just as it was about to latch in place one of her red wings wedged itself into the window frame and threw it open once more. She flew back in, blushing underneath her black scales. "I forgot to latch my window open. I'm locked out. Could I stay here tonight?"

"Of course you can Cyn." Spyro answered. They both positioned themselves like they had been in the cave. It was comfortable, yet they both felt self-conscious. Cynder finally relaxed into the male's steady breathing and heartbeat, snuggling into his chest and purring. "Cynder," Spyro said after a time, "do you want to leave before we have to face this problem?"

Cynder raised her head up to look at Spyro. "No, what would give you that idea?"

"I just couldn't help but think of that thing you said earlier. I was just going to say that if you didn't want a part of this new situation than I would help you leave Warfang. You could go somewhere else, and after all of this was over I would come and find you." Spyro didn't look at her. He didn't want to know what her answer was.

"Tempting, but no. I will stay." Cynder smiled at Spyro who tried not to reveal how happy his words had made him. "Maybe you are rubbing off on me but it is fun being the hero. Maybe it will become a habit." Spyro chuckled as he set his head back down so he almost missed what Cynder said next. "I love you."

"I love you too," he whispered back.


	5. The Guardians

_Hello everyone. As promised here is chapter five. I've been in a bit of a writing funk lately, so It might take me a while to get the next chapter out._

 _On another note, thanks everyone. We hit the 800 view mark last night. Yay! As always I would love to hear from you guys. Any questions, comments, concerns. Lay it on me. Thanks and enjoy the show._

* * *

The sun had just come up; peeking up over both the horizon and the tall walls of Warfang. Both dragons were still fast asleep, tangled up underneath the blanket of Spyro's wings.

As the sun crept along the ground and up onto Spyro's vibrant scales, the purple dragon felt himself return to consciousness. He cracked open an eyelid and blinked as the sun almost completely blinded him. He yawned, and was about to stretch when he felt the still sleeping Cynder snuggle into his chest.

Spyro just relaxed back into her, and relished the warmth and the comfort of just being there on the bed with her. It didn't last long however, as he soon heard a familiar voice calling down the hall.

"Spyro," Sparx yelled jiggling the doorknob, "the guardians say that they need to talk to you." Sparx abandoned the doorknob and flitted underneath the door. Spyro saw a little golden head poke out from underneath the door. "Hey man get up, if you hustle you might be able to get breakfast first. Oh, and can you wake Cynder for me? They want to talk to her too." Sparx hovered over his brother and was about to continue when he took in the scene on the bed.

Sparx didn't understand at first. "Dude did you gain like four hundred pounds since last night?" He had mistaken Cynder's body for Spyro as she lay sleeping under his wing. At his comment however she rolled over and grumbled slightly. Sparx watched with wide eyes. "If that's your stomach you've got serious problems dude." This second comment woke Cynder, and even from underneath Spyro's wing she could make out his bright golden glow and hear his high tinny voice.

"If the bug doesn't shut up, I'm going to crush him like the gnat he is; got it?" Cynder growled loud enough to be heard by the dragonfly still turning circles over the bed. He stopped cold in the air. Cynder smiled, as it looked as if the little fly had hit a pane of glass. She pushed her head out from under Spyro's wing to get a better look. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Spyro blushing furiously, but she was too busy watching Sparx try to put two words together.

His mouth opened and closed several times giving him the look of a fish pulled from the water. He closed his mouth, swallowed, and finally was able to get his words out. "Cynder? Spyro were you aware that Cynder was there?" His voice came out higher than usual, and it cracked a bit, but at least they could understand him.

Spyro shot Sparx a withering look. "Yes Sparx, I know Cynder is here. She came to talk to me last night, and she got locked out of her room. I invited her to sleep in here."

"Yeah, but in the bed with you? I mean wouldn't the floor have been perfectly fine." Sparx gasped as another alternative popped into his mind. "Did you two mate?" This time both Spyro and Cynder blushed. "Dude," Sparx continued, "I get sleeping near her with the whole chain situation and everything, but now that you're free why are you still sticking around that... creature."

Sparx must have known that he had crossed a line, because he stopped talking. But it was far too late then. Cynder felt a surge of heat from Spyro's belly, and felt her scales stand on end as a charge of electricity zipped down his spine. "Sparx, may I speak to you in the hallway. Now!" Spyro's voice echoed slightly and it was a touch deeper. Cynder began to feel nervous, as that change only happened when he was channeling convexity, or when he was channeling darkness.

Sparx turned pale and flew out into the hall. Spyro turned to Cynder, and she braced for him to unleash an angry rant, but when he spoke to her his voice was tender and loving. "I'm sorry about that. I'll go straighten him out. You could stay here or you could go down to breakfast." He nuzzled her cheek, then stepped off of the bed and out into the hallway.

Sparx was leaning against the wall looking bored when Spyro walked out. Immediately the dragonfly perked up and began to talk. "Hey man good to see you. I gotta thank you for creating a situation that would let me leave. I have no problem speaking my mind, but it got awkward in there really quick." Spyro wasn't sure which made him angrier; the fact that Sparx was being horrible to Cynder, or that he seemed oblivious to Spyro's rage. "I do gotta say though, you overdid it with the whole 'may I speak with you in the hallway' thing. I mean your voice got all echoey and she might catch on to what we're doing out here."

"And what are we doing out here?" Spyro growled. Almost anyone who knew Spyro probably could have realized that Sparx was treading on dangerous ground, but Sparx wasn't really paying attention to his brother.

"We're trying to figure out how to ditch that demon in dragon form. I think we should..." but Spyro never found out what Sparx thought they should do because at that moment Spyro's fury slipped from his control, and for a moment a wall of the true power of the purple dragon exploded down the hallway. Sparx found himself on the ground, pinned beneath the paws of his adopted brother. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's up?"

"Sparx, you need to shut up for once in your life and listen. I love Cynder. She is my best friend, and perhaps even more. I love her and I will not have you insult her in front of me!"

Despite his predicament, Sparx couldn't hold his tongue. "Why her? How could you fall in love with the creature that tried to kill you several times? What is wrong with you Spyro?" Spyro's eyes flared a darker shade of purple, and for a moment his power slipped free again. Sparx felt as though the air pressure had doubled, and gravity had quadrupled. For an instant he thought he would be crushed by the weight.

When he answered, Spyro's voice was slow, and dangerously quiet. "She has saved my life more times than she ever endangered it. She was the only person who believed in me by choice; not because of a prophecy, or because they were related to me, but because she made her own DAMN CHOICE. She didn't have to stay at the dragon temple as long as she did. She didn't have to attack Gual to save me but she did. We mutually needed each other, and that need eventually evolved into something else. Sparx, I love Cynder with all of my heart, and all of my soul. And if you can't accept that... then I don't want to be your brother anymore." Spyro walked away leaving Sparx to peel himself off of the floor.

•••

Cynder walked downstairs to breakfast with a spring in her step, and with her heart feeling swollen in her chest. She had only heard parts of Sparx and Spyro's conversation; she had even felt the kick of power as Spyro lost control. She didn't think it was fair what he was doing to Sparx, but then again Sparx didn't like her.

Her relationship with Sparx had always been difficult. In the five days after they were released from the crystal, Sparx had shown more trust than she thought she could expect of the little gnat. He had asked after her health after battles, and had located crystals for her to help her heal. He had provided light when she was exploring dark areas, and he had even distracted certain enemies as she recovered from a grueling blow. It had all culminated when Sparx had begged her to take care of Spyro in the burned lands. Of course now that she thought about it Spyro could have asked him to do all of that, and she was the only one able to look after him within the burned lands. In that moment she remembered all of the horrible things that he had done to her in the past. When she had first arrived at the temple, Sparx had almost begged the guardians to throw her out, and she knew they would have had Spyro and Ignitus not intervened. He had almost spoiled her plan to get Spyro, Sparx, and herself off of the pirate ship taking them to Gaul. And when they had first met Hunter, Sparx had bad mouthed her almost immediately. The darker part of her mind almost wanted Spyro to get rid of him.

She tried to shake off these thoughts as she reached the bottom of the third set of narrow, steep, stone steps that she had encountered since leaving her room. Each flight of steps had switched back and led to another long corridor with several wooden doors on both sides. When her curiosity got the better of her Cynder peeked into one of the rooms. It was a small bedroom almost exactly identical to the one she had shared with Spyro. She wondered why the temple had so many rooms. Not including Ignitus she was only aware of five living dragons. With only that many, and with little chance to reproduce, why did the temple have hundreds of rooms?

"Miss Cynder?" As the tiny voice spoke Cynder quickly pulled her head out of the room, and slammed the door guiltily. She looked around and saw a small mole standing at the end of the corridor. "Miss, the guardians were wondering why you and Mr. Spyro were late. They sent me to check up on you." He paused then looked at his feet. "I would also like to apologize for my father's behavior on the wall yesterday. My brother too. I was born after Spyro freed you, and so my judgment isn't clouded by the memories of your raids. I recognize what you sacrificed for us and I thank you." The little mole quickly turned red after his speech. He tried to say more, but he simply closed his mouth and licked his lips nervously. But perhaps it was good, because Cynder was equally speechless.

Cynder was touched. She had never wanted the spotlight that seemed to permanently shine on Spyro, but it was nice to be recognized for what she did to help him. She was also glad that the mole had apologized for his family. She assumed that his father and brother had been the ones to shoot the net and the crossbow, and despite the fact that nobody had been harmed she still felt that she deserved an apology. "Thank you Mr..." she paused when she realized that she didn't know the little mole's name.

"Mortimer," the mole provided without missing a beat.

"...Mortimer," Cynder continued, "thank you for the apology. I would be honored if you would lead me to breakfast. Then could you go and get Spyro; he stayed behind to talk to Sparx alone and if I couldn't find the dining hall he definitely won't. He is so absent minded sometimes." Cynder chuckled to herself as she remembered when Spyro had gotten lost in the Valley of the Avalar.

•••

The cave where Meadow told them the hermit lived was impossible to find. Cynder was convinced that it didn't exist and that it was just a delusion that the wounded cat had made up in desperation.

"Come on," Spyro said cheerily, " it has to be around the next bend. He said the cave was by the river." Spyro began a long loping bound that carried him great distances across the plain. He would leap off the ground and glide until he hit the ground again. It was definitely more efficient than both flying and walking.

Cynder was loping after him, but she knew that something was wrong. Meadow had told them that the cave was along the river, and that they would turn off from river to find it. Spyro's route would force them to follow the river. She didn't think that they should be going to where the river ended. In fact she was fairly certain that they had already passed the hermit's cave. "Spyro!" she called as the purple dragon's tail whipped around the corner of a boulder at the bend in the river. Her concentration lapsed for a second, and she immediately lost her rhythm and tripped before entering the next bound.

Her front legs crossed and tangled as her back legs slammed into the hard packed earth. She dug in her forepaws to halt her forward motion, but they just acted like a hinge. Her momentum threw her in a somersault over her front legs and onto her back. Cynder quickly snapped her wings closed so she wouldn't damage them. She did several more rolls before she could stop herself, and her tumble had taken her past the narrow canyon of rock that Spyro had disappeared down. Carefully Cynder picked herself up from the crumpled heap she had ended up in and carefully examined her body for injury.

Overall, she had escaped relatively unscathed despite having taken the tumble at high speed in a rocky environment. She had a few minor scrapes and bruises along her back and legs, but she had a deeper cut along her belly. Both of her wings were in tatters, but those would heal so quickly as to be of no consequence. She had done her best to tuck her head as she rolled, so she knew that there were few wounds on her neck, although her head was another matter. Her ears were ringing and she felt light headed, so she instantly knew that her head had struck at least one rock. Judging from the pain and confusion she felt, she might have had a moderate concussion. She swallowed, and then immediately spat in disgust. Most of the liquid in her mouth was blood. She hazily remembered her snout bashing a good sized stone, so she figured that she had bitten her tongue and, judging by the blood on her lips, broken her nose.

The pain hit her an instant later, and despite her tough exterior she couldn't help but cry out in pain. "Thspyro!" She spat out another glob of blood and tried again. "Spyroth!" She silently cursed herself, but then the purple dragon turned the corner.

At first Spyro didn't understand Cynder's plight. The blood dripping down her face blended almost perfectly into her scales. "Cynder? What's wrong? Come on I think I found the cave, but..." he paused as he got closer and finally realized what was wrong. "Oh my gosh, Cynder what happened." Spyro was breathing heavily and sounded close to panic. It seemed that he panicked anytime she got hurt. He could have a horrible wound and he would tough it out, but if she got as much as a gash he would panic.

"Sthpyro I'mb find," Cynder tried, but Spyro was already in panic mode.

"What can we do? What can we do?! WHAT CAN WE DO?! We could set it, but... no that wouldn't work. I could... no that might hurt you. I know we could go back and... no they don't trust us." The purple dragon paced as he tried to think of a solution to the problem, but when his path took him near Cynder he felt a strong pain in the back of his head.

"Spyro listen to me," Cynder raised her tail and struck Spyro again, but on his right foreleg this time. He jumped back and looked at her. Cynder tried to lick her lips, but her tongue still hurt to move and her lips were still coated in blood. "Could you help me a bit with my tongue?" Cynder snapped. She still had a slight lisp, but with great amounts of concentration she was able to keep it under control. Carefully she opened her mouth wide for Spyro.

Warily the young dragon looked into Cynder's mouth and almost immediately flinched back with the sight of her tongue. In a different situation Cynder might have laughed; despite all of the enemies he had killed, Spyro was apparently still squeamish. Rolling her eyes Cynder gestured him closer. He peered into her mouth where, contrasted from the pink skin of her palate and throat, her tongue stood out blood red with a clean bite mark halfway down that cut nearly through the tissue. "What do you want me to do?"

Cynder almost cried out in frustration and pain. Almost against her will she whimpered "ice" and then cried as the word caused a bolt of pain as well as blood to fill her mouth. Spyro's mouth set in a hard line. He stepped up to where Cynder sat with her mouth open and pushed his muzzle right up next to hers. Placing his lips on hers to get the best seal possible he suddenly filled their mouths with sub-zero temperatures that immediately took away all of the pain she was feeling.

Later they would both recognize it as their first kiss.

"Thankth you," Cynder almost groaned. The numbness caused by the cold coupled with the swelling of the tongue made her lisp even worse. "Spyroth, I remember theeing a wed cwythtal back up the wivew a wayth. Could you help me'th?" Cynder hoped that the red crystal could fix this petty wound, because despite its lack of severity it still was extremely debilitating. Cynder grimaced at the horrid feel of having blood run down her throat from both her tongue and nose. "I can'th fly buth I donth think it'th too faw." Cynder cursed silently to herself.

They began to trudge back following the river, but they had to stop constantly so Cynder could rest. The bruises on her back and legs as well as the cut on her belly hurt her whenever she moved, and each cut would tear open a little more with every movement. If that wasn't enough it seemed that every time they stopped at least one of Malefor's little creatures would decide that now was the perfect time to attack. Spyro would quickly dispatch them, especially as his rage powered up his attacks, but it was almost noon before they made it to where Cynder had seen the crystal.

A hollow log bridged the tributary, running parallel to the main river. Cold waters rained down from a high cliff to flow underneath the log and join the main flow of water. To the side of the waterfall was a strip of thin marshy land that led to the base of the cliff where a cluster of red crystals sprouted from the cliff face.

At first Cynder just wanted to cry. The crystal she was looking at was much smaller than she had remembered. But on second thought she believed that she might be able to make it work. Usually, she reasoned, I would only need a full crystal when my wounds were numerous or life threatening. Perhaps with these simple wounds a tiny crystal would work.

Not wanting to waste another second, Cynder smashed the crystals as hard as she could with her tail blade. They instantly shattered, and each tiny shard began to glow. She watched as the little bits of rock wound around her body and coated each wound as they encountered them. It only took a minute for them to fix her. Her nose snapped back into place, her tongue shrunk back to its normal size, and each bruise and cut faded almost instantly.

It was only once she was healed that Cynder realized that something was off. There was something odd about the crystal base. There was a symbol etched into the hard rock at the base. It looked a bit like a paw print. Tentatively Cynder reached a paw out and placed it directly on the symbol and pushed. There was a loud rumbling sound as the wall began to shake, and the wall behind the waterfall moved aside. Spyro and Cynder grinned at each other.

"Well see, if you hadn't hurt yourself we never would have found that cave. Good job Cynder!" Spyro didn't care what happened, he thought it was funny despite the fact that Cynder smacked him. Together the entered the hermit's cave.

•••

Cynder could almost still feel the pain of the torn tongue and broken nose. This feeling was intensified when she ran into the wall. Cynder backed up from the stone wall quickly and felt tears reflexively fill her eyes as a bolt of blinding pain shot through her nose. "Mortimer," she gasped, "you could have warned me." Cynder looked around. Her musings had blinded her on her walk down with Mortimer, so now she was truly in a place she didn't recognize. They were in a low corridor and the walls, unlike the walls on the floors above, were not covered in beautiful carvings. These were just solid blocks of coarse grey stone. There were fewer doors leading off this corridor, and the few doors here were so small Cynder doubted that even a baby dragon could fit through them.

Cynder was just about to open one of the tiny doors, and stick her head in out of curiosity, when the door behind her suddenly opened and Mortimer stuck his pencil thin nose into the corridor where Cynder waited. "Mistress Cynder, what seems to be the problem?" Cynder raised an eyebrow and looked at the door. Mortimer looked at the tiny wooden door he had just emerged from and finally figured out the problem. "Oh forgive me Miss. Cynder, but it is not often that we have many dragons down here. The guardians prefer to have the food sent to the main hall so they can eat standing up." The mole chuckled heartily. "One moment Miss." The small mole dove back in through the short doorway and closed the door behind him. Cynder sat as she waited for another door to open. She sat staring at the the wooden door in the otherwise solid slab of rock. Then it changed.

It wasn't the most noticeable change, but Cynder's keen eyes could see the subtle change in the wall. It was now no longer a solid slab of rock; instead a thin crack shot from floor to ceiling and part of the wall jutted out slightly. Suddenly a shrill screech split the air and, despite years of conditioning her senses, Cynder covered her ears. The screech continued on as the wall buckled even more, a block pushing out away from the solid sheet. As the cracks around it widened and light from the other side began to spill into the hall, Cynder realized what the slab truly was. The moles were opening a hidden stone door so she could enter the kitchen.

As the door reached forty five degrees, Cynder could see five moles pushing it with all of their strength. As it swung neatly past forty five degrees all of the moles backed off in one practiced movement. The door must have been perfectly weighted because it threw itself all the way open allowing Cynder to enter the kitchen. And what a kitchen it was.

The room was perfectly circular, and Cynder would have guessed that at least two of the corridors that she had just walked down could fit length-wise across the room. Low stone countertops ringed the room except for where four doorways entered. Polished wood tables filled the remaining floor space, except for where a foot tall ring of stones outlined a fire pit where a huge boar roasted. Moles bustled from table to table cooking and preparing complex dishes.

As Cynder entered the kitchen she heard the heavy stone door slam into

the wall of the corridor and, because it was perfectly weighted, swing neatly back into place. As the door nearly closed on her tail, Cynder discovered the beautiful carvings on the inside. The door she had entered had what was clearly a dragon egg at the bottom, and shooting out from it was a perfect lighting bolt that rocketed into the clouds above. Cynder could almost see the carved clouds rolling. What made it the most beautiful in Cynder's opinion were the thousands of chunks of faintly glowing amber that made up the bolt. Looking around the room she saw a ruby inferno around a fire drake's egg, a sapphire blizzard swirling around a white egg, and a tall emerald tree with wind flowing through its branches all growing out of… two green eggs. One covered in black swirls, and the other with white. Cynder felt a rush in her stomach when she saw an amethyst egg with a supernova of pure power burning around it on the ceiling.

"Beautiful aren't they." Mortimer stood right next to Cynder, taking in her gaping jaw with a slight chuckle. "When this building was first constructed each guardian insisted that they needed a team of moles to help them carve those images. It took all four teams to construct the one in the ceiling. Some say that they are prophecies for important dragons across the ages. Personally I don't believe it." Cynder shivered at the thought of another prophecy and quickly changed the subject.

"Why are are you preparing so much food?" Cynder gestured vaguely to the boar on the spit. "There are only," she did a quick headcount, "about thirty moles here and, including me, only five dragons. Why do we need that much plus those other dishes?"

Mortimer looked at her sadly. "This war took a toll on Warfang. Many homes and businesses were destroyed, and that put many citizens on the street. Everyday we cook a vast amount of food and give it to those in need." Cynder felt a rush of guilt as he said that. Surely it was Spyro and her presence in the city that incited the attack. Of course it seemed that the city was under attack before they arrived. Cynder wasn't sure. "Here Miss. If you sit here Agatha will get you some food, and I'll go and get Spyro for you." Mortimer changed the subject before either of them got too upset. He steered her towards a higher than average table near the central fire pit. He bowed as he left and Cynder felt a surge of affection for the small mole.

"Hello sweetie," the voice was warm and soothing, like hot tea on a cold day, "what can I get you?" Cynder focused her attention on a rather round mole in a white hat that stood between the table and the fire.

Strangely a feeling of fear was Cynder's first sensation. Throughout her life she hadn't really had much of a choice in anything. As soon as she'd been born she had been forced into a side of this war. Once Spyro had freed her she had chosen to leave the temple, but she had messed that up. Then she had been chained to Spyro as they fought in the end of the war. After all this time even a mundane choice of food stressed her out. "Er... what can I have?" She grimaced as the words left her mouth.

Agatha raised an eyebrow behind the thick golden glasses that her kind preferred, and in a rather confused sounding voice answered her sweetly. "Honey you can have anything you want."

Encouraged by the sweet tone Cynder cast around for something that looked good. As she looked; she found her eyes and nose returning to the roasting meat that filled the center of the room. "May I have some of that?" Cynder asked meekly. The mole nodded and ordered two other moles to cut a slab of the meat away from the bones.

It took all three moles to bring the platter over to Cynder. Up close the scent of roasting meat was intoxicating. She could almost feel her mouth filling with saliva as the tray was brought closer. The moles set it in front of her, and she could almost hear her stomach gurgle. She was about to take a huge bite of the meat when a sudden thought struck her. A comment that Mortimer had made bounced around her head. "Everyday we cook a vast amount of food and give it to those in need." Cynder looked at the meat on her plate. It seemed to her like a larger than average portion, and she wondered if eating it would force some mole in the city to go hungry. These moles were loyal to the guardians and, since she was an honored guest of theirs, they might have been instructed to give her whatever she wanted. The last thing she wanted was to take food from someone in need; she had played the villain far too long.

Cynder pushed the platter away from herself and said in answer to Agatha's questioning look, "I just realized that I'm not hungry." Her stomach growled rebelliously, and a rebel drop of saliva dribbled from the corner of her mouth.

Agatha moved closer to Cynder and in a firm, yet still sweet tone asked, "What's wrong honey?"

Cynder shrugged. "Nothing I'm just..." Something in the older mole's expression stopped the lie before it crossed through her lips. "Alright. Mortimer told me that this food goes to those who are without homes in the city because of the war. I didn't want to take food from those people." Cynder felt a warm feeling blossom in her chest as the chef in front of her smiled.

"Is that what this is about? Oh sweetie that is the sweetest thing I have ever heard. However only some of this food goes out to the moles on the street. Some is saved for the staff, the guardians, and any guests they might have. The meat you're eating will come out of the guardian's share." The chef carefully looked around before continuing. "And, not to insult you honey, but I'm not sure many others would eat meat that you left for them. They might think you were trying to poison them."

Cynder's eyes grew wide. "But I wouldn't..."

"I know you wouldn't," Agatha interrupted, "I know you're the hero the guardians say you are. My son was the one manning the cannon during The Siege of Warfang. I'm just saying that we should keep this between us."

Relief evident in her eyes, Cynder took a big bite out of the slab of meat on the table. It was as good as it smelled. Exotic and more mundane spices danced across her tongue as the perfectly marinated pork seemed to melt on her tongue. She smiled and gushed to Agatha. "This is the best food I've ever had!" The mole blushed and said it was nothing, but Cynder could tell that she was secretly proud of her craft and of Cynder's praise. As Cynder ate, she tried to make small talk with Agatha, but again it wasn't something she had any practice with.

Thankfully the conversation was cut short as Spyro walked in through the electricity doors. There was a pause as the entrance of the purple dragon registered with the moles. Then almost an instant later a spattering of applause broke out among the front row of moles, and the sound was quickly spreading backwards. In no time at all every mole was applauding the purple dragon loudly and with plenty of enthusiasm. Cynder even joined in. Spyro had had a tough few years, and he deserved some recognition of his sacrifice.

Spyro looked around the room, but unlike Cynder he didn't seem to be fascinated by the carvings on the walls and ceilings, or by the moles or furniture in the room. He was only focused on her. Calmly he crossed the busy kitchen and walked over to where she was sitting and plopped himself down next to her. He politely asked Agatha for breakfast and as she turned her back to tend to the boar Spyro quickly pulled Cynder into a hug. Cynder was surprised, but hugged him back. "I love you," he whispered. He would never admit it, but Cynder knew that the whole Sparx thing was hard on him; she felt a tug of guilt as she realized that she was the one who made it hard. "Thank you for being my friend," he continued pulling her tighter. Cynder hugged him tightly back and they probably would have stayed like that for a while had they not both heard an awkward little cough.

Both dropped their wings from around each other's shoulders and blushed as they saw Agatha grinning behind the table. "Don't mind me, but Spyro has to eat and get to his meeting with the guardians." As if to punctuate her sentence Agatha slapped another platter of meat on the table. Spyro blushed deeper and snapped up his breakfast in two bites. Cynder wasn't sure he even tasted it.

Cynder looked down at her own plate, and found that her own breakfast was nearly gone. She snapped her's up quickly too, but savored every bite. Agatha took their plates as soon as they were finished and took them over to a basin of hot water. Spyro looked at Cynder pitifully. "I probably should go and talk to the guardians, but I don't want to get up. I'd rather stay here with you."

Cynder rolled her eyes at him. "I think you should go. I'm going to see if they have a library." Spyro grinned at her. "Do you know where it is?" she asked looking around the vast kitchen for Mortimer.

"No. Mortimer told me earlier that the audience chamber is just outside those red doors, but he didn't tell me where the library is. Although I bet Mortimer would take you." Spyro smiled and nuzzled Cynder's cheek. "I gotta go. I'll see you at lunch and then you get to go in there and face the guardians." Spyro hopped down from the table and cautiously made his way to the door of fire. Cautiously he pushed it open and crossed the threshold. Impulsively he looked back at Cynder and winked, and in the last moment before the door shut behind him Spyro could have sworn that he saw a grimace pass over Cynder's face.

On the other side of the door was a small round antechamber that was just large enough for the huge stone doors to swing open. On the other side of the room was a wide arch that led to a steep, tight spiral staircase. Mortimer had told him that the guardians would meet him in their audience chamber, which interestingly enough was directly above the kitchen on top of the purple mural.

Spyro wasn't concerned about facing the guardians, in fact he was rather looking forward to confronting them.

It had taken a while for the truth to sink in, but it wasn't until he was in the middle of the burned lands still feeling the sting of the loss of Ignitus that he realized how the guardians had done him wrong.

At the top of the steep swirling stairs, a huge multicolored door barred access to the room beyond. Upon closer study Spyro saw that it was a combination of the four doors in the kitchen. The top left corner was studded with bits of amber, and depicted a huge lightning bolt. The top right showed a huge trio of icicles picked out in stunning sapphires. The lower left corner showed a huge emerald tree surrounded by a nimbus of green energy, and the lower right was a raging inferno filled with millions of blazing rubies. In the center where both doors fit together without a seam, all four colors mixed in a chaotic yet beautiful spiral that encased an engraving of what appeared to be two dragons; one picked out in what appeared to be fury crystal, and the other picked out in light purple, almost pink, planet crystal. Off task Spyro briefly wondered where the mole artists had gotten fury and planet gems, but he snapped back to focus almost immediately. With a start, Spyro realized that the carving was supposed to be him and Malefor. Instead of being awed or calmed by the beautiful door, it only made the young dragon madder. It only helped show how the guardians had wronged him. Both of the carved dragons glowed brightly. They were arranged in a way that looked extremely similar to a yin-yang symbol with one dragon's head right next to the other's tail.

There were no seams or visible hinges on the door and Spyro briefly wondered how he would possibly open the door. Gingerly he knocked on the thick door with his tail. He waited at the door, and suddenly he felt it. Electricity snapped across his tongue, his scales became covered with frost, and a clean fresh wind played across his face and filled his wings. All four colors on the wall began to glow brighter until all four corners blazed with intense light. As he watched the colors began to bleed together, each one slipping into the next until the entire glow was a vibrant violet. The purple light swirled and shrank as it slowly sank into the two carved dragons in the center. When the light was contained only in the carved circle where the two dragons were, and blazed out like a laser, the door cracked between the two dragons and slowly swung inward.

Spyro didn't waste a moment worrying, he stormed into the audience hall without a second thought. "Hello young dragon, how are you?" Terrador smiled at the young dragon as he waited for a response. The grin faded as Spyro scowled at him. "Er... yes, we have asked you to come because..."

"Let me stop you there," Spyro growled, "I'm only here because someone asked me to be, if I had my own way I'd still be in the wilderness with Cynder." All of the guardians looked at each other. They had never seen Spyro this angry.

Volteer was the first one to say something. "Spyro why are you angry, affronted, annoyed, antagonized, cross, displeased, enraged?"

Spyro whirled around to face him. When he spoke his voice was a pained sort of whisper. "You knew."

Terrador became nervous because he had some idea what Spyro was talking about. He tried to feign innocence. "Knew what Spyro?"

"You knew about the prophecy. You knew and you never told me!" Spyro wasn't as angry anymore; his feelings were past anger. He was crushed and completely disappointed in the guardians, his role models.

Cyril, with his cold voice, answered dismissively. "Would knowing have made your battle easier? Would it have made you more powerful? The answer is no. You didn't need to know in order to save the world, and us not telling you saved you from a lot of stress."

"You had no right to determine what I should and shouldn't hear! I could have died because I didn't know about a piece of the prophecy!" Spyro's voice became deeper as his rage began to build, and power began to shine through his scales.

"Spyro, we are truly sorry." Terrador had to shout to be heard over the rush of energy that Spyro was channeling. He needed to calm Spyro down or else he would destroy the temple and quite possibly the city. "Ignitus wanted to tell you, but we voted him down. He wanted to tell you the truth, but we felt that the truth might scare you away from your destiny. I guess... I guess we just never thought of you as a person; we only saw you as means to an end. It was only after you lived with us for a while that we realized what or rather who you were. We were going to tell you, but then the apes attacked the temple and you left for that tree you saw in your vision. Again Spyro I truly am sorry."

Spyro sat for a moment digesting the information. Slowly ever so slowly the storm of purple light that had been building around Spyro began to slow and fade. He accepted their argument as a valid reason, although not forgivable. Spyro allowed his power to completely fade as he asked another question. "And what about Cynder?"

This time Cyril spoke first, trying to play innocent. "What about Cynder?" he asked.

Spyro growled deep in his throat. "I'm losing my patience. You know exactly what I mean. Why were you guys so horrible and mean to her if you knew she was part of this?"

Terrador hung his head, and Spyro was surprised to see that he was ashamed. "I'm so sorry Spyro, it is completely my fault. I guess I just... I didn't believe that she was the love from the prophecy. We all imagined a virtuous, pure dragoness who would fall for you. The last thing we wanted was a black, twisted, creature that could potentially return to the dark master. I was bitter and didn't trust her. It was one of the things that Ignitus and I always used to argue about. I guess he was just a better father than I am."

Spyro actually took a step back as Terrador said this. "Did you just say that you're-"

"Anyway," Cyril interrupted, "may we ask a question now, the one that we actually called this meeting for?" Spyro wasn't ready to let the matter drop, but he reluctantly nodded anyway. "You said that someone told you to come to Warfang. Who?"

Spyro couldn't help but grin. "Ignitus."

"Why isn't Ignitus here? Why didn't he return with you?" Volteer gave Spyro a funny look.

"Because he died," he said without thinking. Only when Spyro saw the shocked and confused expressions on the three remaining guardians did he realize what he had said. "Sorry, he died taking us through the ring of fire, but it's okay. He's the new Chronicler." Spyro continued to grin happily at the guardians until a thought struck him. "He also might have mentioned something about being my father."

Terrador couldn't help but copy the little dragon's grin. "With how close you two were we were surprised that you didn't figure it out sooner."

Spyro cocked his head. "I wonder why he didn't tell me." He muttered this more to himself than anything. Terrador heard however and he couldn't just let the dragon stew.

"Spyro, he didn't tell you because he didn't want to hurt you or him if one of you died. I also think he wanted to wait for you to be free of your destiny before he admitted it to you. Spyro you should know that Ignitus never doubted that you would survive. Well your mother and him both." Terrador saw Spyro open his mouth to ask another question but he waylaid him. "Your mother is still alive, and she is rather close. Her name is Amperia and she is one of the most beautiful electricity dragonesses in existence."

"Well I'll tell her you said that," Volteer chuckled. "I can't wait to see the look on Gaia's face when she hears that. Blizzard would love that!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Who are you talking about? Your mates? Are they even still alive?" Spyro looked from one laughing dragon to the next. "Are you telling me that there are more dragons out there?"

"Of course they're still alive, Malefor only cared about getting rid of the next generation of dragons, and even then he didn't get all of them." Terrador regarded the young dragon and slowly nodded. "They are actually quite close; in the other dragon temple. See the night of the raid each of us made it out with two of our eggs, more or less. Ignitus grabbed you first and another of his eggs, but he accidentally dropped the other somewhere in the swamp." Terrador looked at Spyro sadly. "In the extreme cold it would have gone into a hibernation, and by now it would take an extraordinary amount of power to awaken it. Cyril and Volteer both made it out with two; a boy and a girl. Ignitus didn't want to make the rest of our families a target, so he didn't send you with them. He sent you down the river hoping that someone would find you."

Spyro thought he knew the answer already but he had to be sure. "And you?"

Terrador hung his head sadly. "Gaia, my mate made it out with one egg, but I can't help but blame myself for the egg I failed to rescue. Cynder's egg."

Spyro didn't know what to say. Neither apparently did the other guardians. Spyro couldn't help but wonder if they were hearing the story for the first time as well.

Cyril broke the silence first. His voice was the warmest that Spyro had ever heard. "Terrador remember; Cynder turned out fine. And besides Gaia saved Summer. Don't just focus on the muddy things!" The blue dragon refocused his attention on Spyro. "Spyro I know you must have another million questions, but right now we need to know what Ignitus told you to tell us. What do you know about those black crystals?"

•••

Sparx flew through the city of Warfang haphazardly. His lilliputian form slipped between buildings and moles as tears streamed down his face. He saw the city gates ahead and realized that he had hit a dead end. He quickly ducked into an alley and collapsed against the wall.

"How could he do this?" he cursed sniffing and drawing his forearm across his eyes to clear the tears away. "With all we've been through and he chose that demon over me!" Tears threatened to fall again but the little insect stubbornly held them back. "Is this really my fault?"

The little dragonfly tried to see what Spyro saw. He tried to objectively look at Cynder at all angles. Sparx thought back to the moment that Cynder had been freed from the curse, and then he tried to list everything that he knew about Cynder.

He was surprised to realize that he couldn't come up with very much, and what he could come up with he realized was biased and unfair.

Suddenly he realized for the first time with unclouded certainty that any sin she had committed had either happened before she was free, or he had exaggerated into being. With this revelation Sparx shot merrily up into the air. He could still fix this. He just had to apologize to Cynder and start over with her.

"Excuse me, but are you alright little one?" An oily voice spoke out of the darkness surprising Sparx.

Sparx who hadn't looked at the stranger smiled. "Better than I've been all day." He mentally plotted the course that would take him back to the dragon temple quickly. "Thanks mister."

Sparx felt a jolt of fear as a hand seemed to materialize around his thin body. "Going so soon?" The mole with the oily voice stepped into the light and Sparx felt his heart speed up in fear. The mole was covered in darkness. It wasn't that the mole's fur had suddenly turned black, but it appeared as though he were covered in a thick dark shadow that floated just over the surface of his skin.

Sparx began to panic as he felt the hand tighten around him. The dark mole quickly began walking back up the alleyway. He turned a corner and was curious to see a courtyard ahead. Odd, the only courtyard near the gates was the one with the... Sparx began to thrash in panic as he saw the dark monolith of stone growing closer. Obviously one of the element gates had been ruptured. Or removed, Sparx thought darkly. In the moment before the mole threw him in a small cage by the crystal Sparx saw the two other gates glimmering, with huge holes in them where the third had been carefully rammed between the two opening a pathway out. Sparx cried out as he realized that one of the guardians had ruined the defenses. He had to get back to tell Spyro that the rebel element was-

 _Thud!_

* * *

 _So originally chapters five six and seven were all one really really long chapter. So like J. R. R. Tolken before me I simply just cut each off when I found a point to do so. Sorry if this is a bad clif hangar._


	6. The Plan

_**Welcome one and all, and for my American viewers happy eclipse. I probably could have posted last week, but i wanted to have a chapter go up on eclipse day. I also have a confession and an announcement. After writing this story and focusing on this story for so long, and because I am starting College in a few days, I have decided to take a short break from this story. I will be back in the groove with this story by October. I will post chapter seven in September, but in the meantime I am working on a more relaxed and lighthearted Pokémon story, so look out for that.**_

 ** _Okay enough of me. Let's get to chapter six, hobey-ho let's go!_**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: The Plan**

The library was huge, but Cynder had expected that. After breakfast she had followed Mortimer through the green door and up through the temple to the library.

"How was breakfast," Mortimer tried. He was obviously uncomfortable and trying to start a conversation.

"It was great, Agatha is a wonderful cook." Cynder smiled at the mole. "You know that we don't have to talk. We could just walk." Mortimer started to speak, but then shut his mouth.

They walked in silence for a while, and Cynder began to feel guilty. She wasn't exactly a social butterfly, but she was perfectly capable of holding a conversation with people she was comfortable with. She watched Mortimer for a while. He was so kind and so friendly, she knew that she could be comfortable around him.

She took in his stiff walk. The way he marched was extremely regular and deliberate, much like a soldier. "So, you work in the kitchens huh?"

Mortimer flinched as she said this, which caused him to misstep. "Yeah I do, but…"

He paused and Cynder unconsciously finished for him. "You want to be a soldier."

Mortimer looked back at her warily. "How did you know that?" Cynder didn't know what to say. She didn't exactly want to admit that she had been trained since she was very young to analyze everyone with extreme scrutiny in case she needed to destroy them later. This training meant that she was extremely good at reading people. She could pick up on every little detail they let slip.

Thankfully Mortimer didn't wait for her to answer. "Yes I do want to be a soldier. My entire family has served in the Warfang militia for several generations, and I want to follow in their footsteps. At least now I do?"

"What do you mean, now you do?" Cynder asked.

"Well when I was a kid I didn't do as well at the academy as my family did. If you graduate in the top ten percent of your class you get an automatic assignment in the militia or the guard. I failed a class in my first year, so the best I could do was fifteen percent. I have to complete so many hours of extra training and perform well in another assessment to be accepted now. In the meantime I work in the kitchen."

"Sorry," Cynder tried, but Mortimer wasn't looking for pity.

"No, no, don't be sorry," he said. "Every afternoon I work and train. By this time next year I should have all of my hours completed."

Cynder didn't know what else to say, but thankfully it was around that point that when the they reached the library. There was an orange strip of crystal imbedded in the floor across the doorway. Beyond it a short, wide wooden desk was nestled between two huge bookshelves. The ceiling was at least forty feet tall, and each of the over one hundred bookshelves in the vast library continued all the way to the domed glass roof.

Small desks filled the remaining space between the shelves. Almost every seat had a mole or a cheetah in it, but surprisingly there were also a few apes. Cynder's scales raised in fear along her neck and back. "What are they doing here?"

Mortimer frowned at her. "They sorta live here. I know a lot of them were mean to you, but you can't escape being close to other moles-"

"Not them," Cynder snapped, "the apes."

Comprehension dawned on Mortimer's face. It quickly morphed into an expression of fear. "I know what you mean. After you guys left to defeat the destroyer a whole delegation appeared and asked if they could join us. We imprisoned them until the guardians returned and they could put a leash on them. We didn't exactly trust them. I think that without the influence of Gaul or Malefor they are totally benign, but I still don't trust them. Anyways I have to get back to the kitchen, but if you need me just call. I think my sister is working the morning shift in the library, so just look for her. Bye Cyn." And with that Mortimer raced back up the corridor in the direction of the kitchens.

Cynder, feeling extremely self- conscious walked casually through the center of the library heading for the main desk. A thin, attractive mole was sitting behind the desk pouring over a huge book with a pair of delicate, silver, spectacles perched on the end of her nose. As Cynder approached the lady glanced up and began to squint in Cynder's direction. "I told you already," she said, "no you can't eat in here. Take your bananas somewhere else." The mole behind the desk returned to her book.

"Excuse me!" Cynder was a bit insulted that the mole had mistaken her for an ape. Although they had been on the same team for a time. The lady squinted again and then, after rummaging through her desk for a few moments, extracted a thick pair of gold glasses that she immediately swapped for the silver ones.

The librarian didn't even blink at the sight of Cynder. "My mistake, is there anything I can help you with dear?" Cynder was the one who blinked. Usually people had some sort of reaction after meeting her for the first time.

"Don't you know who I am?" Cynder asked puzzled.

"Of course, you're Cynder." And without missing a beat she launched into and explanation of how the library worked. "This library has the most books of any in the city. Now we don't let patrons leave with-"

"Wait, that's it? That's your reaction?" Cynder asked incredulously. "I'm sorry but most people have some sort of reaction and..." Cynder realized that it was ridiculous how _she_ was reacting to this.

The librarian looked at her with a smile. "Honey you obviously love books, that's a good enough judge of character in my book." She giggled at her unintended pun. "My name is Melody, but you may call me Ms. M. As I was telling you we don't let patrons leave with books, as evidenced by the orange crystal lines by the doors. The books have matching crystals in the spine and they refuse to pass their brothers. Oh before I forget..." Ms. M reached behind the desk and pulled out a rough orange crystal on a length of leather. She placed it around Cynder's neck. "This will help you retrieve books from high shelves. Off you go then. Happy reading!"

Cynder normally would have browsed the fiction section and eventually curled up at one of the tables with an epic story, but today she had a reason for being in the library. She quickly found the shelves that had books on the properties of crystals. It was time she found out more about the planet crystal.

As she entered the aisle, crossing a pattern of green mana crystal buried in the floor tiles, the orange crystal around her neck began to glow. In response the small crystals imbedded in the spine of each book began to hum and vibrate. Cynder began to browse the shelf looking for anything referencing the planet crystal or light powers, but the humming and buzzing was distracting her. She tried for a few more minutes before turning away and sitting down in disgust.

"I just want a book on the planet crystal is that too much to ask?" Cynder didn't know why it happened, but suddenly the buzzing stopped. Then something hit her on the back of the head. Cynder whirled around. "I felt that! Whoever you are come out and try that again!" There was nobody nearby. Something whacked her head again. Rubbing her tender skull Cynder looked up. Floating just above her head was a thick leather-bound book with a drawing of a crystal on it. Cynder also noted the buzzing, glowing crystal set into the spine.

Before it could hit her again, Cynder snatched the book from the air and tore through its pages. She checked the table of contents, the index, the glossary, and the appendix but the most information she got on the planet crystal was that it was the material that made up the planet's core.

Using her newfound knowledge of the library's internal workings, Cynder searched the entire catalog of books for anything on the planet crystal. She tried a book called, Rare Crystals of this World, but she got nothing. She asked for a book on different types of dragons and one on different dragon powers, but those didn't work either. Cynder was solely tempted to scream and throw the book she was holding. It was a good thing she didn't, because it was at that moment that she heard the voices. Someone was coming.

"Man did you see his face as we changed him. The little dude almost peed himself. But of course we had to give Spyro's brother special attention." Two husky male voices chuckled, but one stopped sooner than the other.

"Hush you buffoon. Nobody can know about this. Oh no, here comes Melody! Quick over there!" Cynder froze as she saw two forms dodge into her aisle of books. Without thinking she summoned a book from a high shelf, then dismissed it while holding on to it. It quickly took her to the top shelf where she hung from the thin plank of wood desperately trying not to fall down and alert the two to her presence.

"Oh good, she didn't notice us. Anyway did he explain the plan to you?" Cynder could tell that they were moles, except something was off about them. She didn't know what, but her instincts told her not to reveal herself.

"Yes, he told me this morning. He should be getting all of the information he needs from Spyro right now." The mole speaking twirled his finger through a sparse goatee that hung from his chin.

The other mole smiled, and Cynder noted that his blue eyes grew wider as he said that. "When is it going down?" blue-eyes asked.

The one with the goatee looked around his green eyes roving the shelves, but thankfully he didn't look up. He leaned closer to his friend and lowered his voice. Cynder had to get closer. She swung her body and released her claws from the shelf. She caught herself on a lower shelf just above the moles, but one of her paws slipped and scratched a huge gouge in the wood with a loud "scree". Both moles froze and began to look up.

Cynder, with her heart pounding in her chest, threw up her most basic defense. This was one of the first applications of her power that Malefor had taught her. She coated her skin with liquid shadow which leached into the air around her. In total or near darkness this effect would effectively make her invisible, but in the broad daylight of the library it merely darkened her form and broke up her outline. From afar she could escape scrutiny, but if either of the strange moles got closer…

Both of the creatures below looked up simultaneously. Blue-eyes stopped scanning above almost immediately, and began looking up and down the long aisles. But goatee continued to look up. It was at that moment however that Cynder began to feel her grip giving away. The smooth surface of the shelf was impossible to grip, and the soft wood it was made from barely met her claws with any resistance. In that moment Cynder made a risky decision. She lifted her other foreleg from where it dangled by her body and dug her sharp claws into the shelf next to her other paw. Better to risk detection with a small movement than to guarantee it by falling on them, she told herself.

Looking down, Cynder's heart began to beat faster. Goatee mole was pointing up at the shelf she was dangling from and saying something to blue-eyes. She watched as blue-eyes reached into his shirt and pulled out an orange crystal amulet much like the one she now wore. She saw him mouth something. His crystal began to glow. All at once the loud buzzing she had heard earlier returned and it began to grow steadily louder. Cynder felt a tug of wind as a book flew dangerously close to her slightly untucked left wing. It wasn't the only one. Book after book after book rained down from the shelves around her, many almost striking her. Cynder risked it all again by pulling herself completely up onto the shelf to dodge the books that were now raining down on the mole. But instead of burying him under several layers of parchment and leather the books began to stack themselves into a steep staircase. Almost every book on the shelf she was occupying was exhausted making the staircase, but at last the pile reached Cynder's shelf.

There was a moment of silence, then there was a creaking protest as a foot crushed a book and the buzzing returned as the orange crystal held the books in place. Panicked Cynder tried to think of what she could do. Someone was coming and unless he was blind he'd see through her meager camouflage. Cynder closed her eyes and searched deep within herself, searching for anything that might protect her. Despite the gravity of the situation her thoughts kept straying to Spyro. If he was here she wouldn't have to hide. As thoughts of the purple dragon filled her head Cynder felt a curious, warm trickle flow over the scales. Whereas the shadow had been cold, this new sensation was warm like a warm embrace. She was about to look down at her own feet to see what had happened when suddenly a fuzzy face with blue eyes jumped into view. "Aha," said the mole as he found...

•••

...nothing. There was nothing on the shelf. He knew it! He knew that goatee, whose real name was Richard, had just seen a book move, or light reflect through the domed ceiling. "Dick," He called, "there's nothing up here! Crazy mole," blue-eyes finished to himself.

As blue-eyes, who was more commonly known as Lucas, descended the staircase he moved his concentration away from the books beneath his feet and they shot off, back to their spots on the shelves.

"Are we waiting for tonight go for it? You know the darkness won't fade until this afternoon." Lucas wasn't too concerned about continuing the conversation, but Richard still seemed a bit wary.

"Yes, but he's also waiting for the end of the guardian's meeting with Spyro. If Spyro doesn't spill they'll try on Cynder. If they get the information we'll strike tonight, if not we can still get it tonight. What's the rush?" Richard grinned as though this was obvious. "We know the room. It will be perfect when we bring them in, bound and gagged. Maybe when Spyro sees his brother he'll wise up and spill." The two moles laughed as they left. There was a whoosh as something followed after them leaving an orange crystal on a high shelf.

•••

Spyro was lost in thought as he wandered the temple. He still wasn't happy with the guardians, and he still hadn't forgiven them, but he felt that their reasons had been valid. At least to them. He was heading back to the kitchens from the audience chamber. The guardians had thanked him for his time and dismissed him after they had grilled him for information about Ignitus, the black crystals, and the final fight with Malefor. Maybe it was his trust issue, but he didn't share everything with the others; the information regarding anything specific especially concerning his and Cynder's newfound powers. He kept it all on a "need-to-know" basis. The fact that the city was in danger was relevant. The fact that Cynder and him were given bad-ass powers, not as much.

Spyro circled a corner looking for some signpost or landmark that would point him towards the library. Fortunately as he rounded the corner he smacked into something solid and he was knocked back. Years of training kicked in as he rolled to his feet. Flames roared to life on his tongue before a squeaking protest met his ears.

"Spyro, don't. It's me." Spyro shut his mouth and looked around.

"Cynder?" He asked looking around. "Where are you?"

There was a ripple in the air where he had hit, and for just a moment Cynder's outline was visible. She huffed in frustration for a moment. "Ugggh, I hate this, I truly hate this. I can't even turn it off to become visible.

"How did you even become invisible?" Spyro asked circling where he thought Cynder was. "I've seen your shadow sneak. It only hides you, it's nothing like this."

"No duh," Cynder said, and Spyro imagined that she was rolling her invisible eyes, "this isn't shadow, I think this has to do with... our new... er... you know what."

Spyro waved his wings in front of him as he slowly stepped forward until he felt himself hit Cynder. He carefully grabbed whatever part of her he had hit and positioned himself next to her. "Well you can't exactly go anywhere until you become visible again. I guess we'll just sit here and wait."

Cynder grumbled, but sat down back to back with Spyro and sulked. She was glad that this power had appeared when it had, but now she didn't need it and it just wouldn't go away. She was so mad that she almost forgot about what she had heard in the library.

"Spyro you will never believe what I just heard in the library. I don't know exactly what is going on, but there is a plan in place to..." Cynder paused a moment as she realized that she didn't actually know what the plan was. "Anyway it involves at least one of the guardians and- er Sparx-" Cynder again paused. Perhaps it hadn't been the best idea to mention Sparx. "Whatever is happening, it will only happen once either you or I tell the guardians something, or late tonight."

Cynder realized after she had explained it all how much her story didn't make any sense. Spyro was looking, or at least trying to look at her. He was staring slightly to her left, but it didn't matter.

"Cynder," Spyro began cautiously, "that doesn't make any sense. Why would Sparx or the guardians betray us?"

Cynder's heart wilted in her chest. She couldn't believe that Spyro didn't believe her. Did he not trust her? She a cold feeling trickle down her back as she felt his doubt.

Spyro shivered and jumped too at the feeling. He turned to look at Cynder again and could actually see her. "Cynder, I can see you... kinda. You have Shadow all over you, but at least I can see you now. You know how to get rid of Shadow right?"

Cynder shook herself like she was wet, but it did the trick. The shadows quickly evaporated off of her scales. She was elated that she was visible again, but she didn't look happy. "I know it sounds crazy and unbelievable but-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Spyro said flaring his wings defensively, "I never said that I didn't believe you. I was just saying that it was unbelievable. I pulled the world back together, I believe in the unbelievable."

Cynder shivered despite herself. She'd never had anyone believe her with just her word. It was definitely a new experience.

"So what now?" She asked.

"You go and see the guardians. Just don't tell them anything they don't need to know. Like you said we don't owe them anything, especially you. Just don't tell them anything, make them tell you what you want to know." Spyro smirked to himself, "Terrador definitely has something to tell you. If he needs any persuasion mention Gaea."

Spyro kissed Cynder's cheek and then began walking down the hallway toward the kitchen. "I'm going to go get lunch," he called back to her, I'll have some for you in our room when you're done."

"Oh, Spyro could you find another room and prop the window open. The moles said that they knew where our room was."

"Sure," Spyro shouted back without turning. "Hey when you are done with the guardians you should tell me the rest of this story."

Cynder smiled as she headed up the stairs to the guardians chambers. Spyro was silly sometimes.

Spyro had left the door open to the guardian's chambers, and the three older dragons hadn't had the opportunity to close it yet, so they almost didn't notice when Cynder walked into their presence. Strangely it was Cyril who first saw the black dragoness.

"Ah, Cynder," Cyril said calling the other two guardian's attention the the young dragon. "I'm glad you agreed to meet us." Cynder couldn't help herself. She shivered. The coldness in his voice coupled with his past mistreatment of her chilled her to the bone.

Cynder didn't like Cyril. During the year she had lived at the Dragon Temple he had always been the first to scold her, even when she hadn't done anything wrong. He had always criticized her during training, always finding something wrong with every set she completed. She didn't know why he hated her, but she did know that he did.

"Spyro told us what happened after you left us. Could you give us your version of events?" Cyril gazed coldly at Cynder.

The young dragon didn't know what to do. She didn't want to say anything that Spyro hadn't said, but then she considered what Cyril had actually said.

"My version of events?" Cynder asked incredulously. "What makes you think that it will be different from Spyro's? Do you think he covered up events for me? Do you think that my story will be inconsistent?"

"No," Volteer protested, "we simply wanted to know if from your slightly different perspective you noticed anything that Spyro didn't. We just wanted to discern from any differences, omissions, or additions that you made as opposed to Spyro that might give us a clue as to the true purpose, potential, or -"

"Shut up," Cynder snapped, "that may be what you had in mind Volteer, but what did he have in mind?" She turned and glared directly at Cyril.

"Enough," Terrador growled, "we aren't accusing you Cynder." He paused and regarded her. "This wasn't how I expected this exchange to go. You and Spyro are being much more confrontational than I had expected."

"Perhaps that is what happens when you use someone for years, and then they find out and aren't happy about it. Malefor certainly learned that the hard way!" The room went silent for a moment as what Cynder said sank in.

Cynder turned to leave the room, but then she remembered what Spyro said. She forced Terrador to meet her eyes and then said, "Gaea!"

Terrador's eyes went wide and then he hung his head. Cynder watched for a while as he sat there. As she watched the big dragon in front of her seemed to deflate even more, drooping forward with his eyes closed. Cynder felt a bit disturbed as his shoulders began to violently shake. He was crying.

"I am so, so, so sorry Cynder." He finally said.

Cyril on the other hand had had enough of this. "Terrador, is this really the time to discuss this?"

"Volteer, Cyril, I'd like to speak to Cynder in private. Please!" The Earth dragon's voice shook the room, and even Cynder felt extremely nervous. His voice wasn't even targeted at her. The Ice dragon rolled his eyes, but left the room nonetheless. Volteer looked a bit shocked at Terrador's tone, and it seemed like he wanted to stick around for a few minutes and see what happened. Cynder was stuck somewhere between laughter and pity, so she cleared her throat. Volteer snapped his head around to look at her.

"Oh sorry, my mistake." He hurried out of the room making sure to push the grand doors closed behind him.

Once he was gone, Cynder looked back up at Terrador to see what he had to say.

The great green dragon just stared at her. His eyes were filled with pain as he just stared at the young dragoness taking everything in. "You look just like your mother." He whispered.

Cynder didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't that. She would have expected Malefor himself to step into the audience chamber before hearing Terrador say that. "You know my mother? Wait..." Cynder glanced at the guardian suspiciously, "...are you my..."

Terrador only nodded, fresh tears streaming down his snout. Cynder didn't know how to feel about this revelation, so she pushed past it. "Is my mother even alive?"

"I don't know how much Spyro told you, but yes your mother, Gaea, is alive. So is your sister, Summer. They are both living in the old Dragon Temple now. We would have them here in the city, but with the whole dark crystal business we didn't think it was wise for them to come back yet."

There was a lot of information to process, so Cynder tried to tackle it one at a time. "Them?"

"All of the guardian's mates and children are taking refuge in the Dragon Temple. Everyone made it out with two eggs, except for Ignitus and... me."

Cynder realized that she was about to ask a question that she had wanted the answer to her entire life. It was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. "What happened that night? What happened to me?"

Terrador sighed. "That moment is the one I have regretted the most, and it almost destroyed me. I was the last one to make it to the egg room of the temple the night of the raid. The apes were already there, and had been for a while, smashing eggs left and right as they made their way deeper into the room. It was horrible, it was the closest place to hell that I have ever been. The flames from their torches reflected off of the blood and shattered egg shells that littered the floor. The smell of dead hatchlings almost completely overwhelmed me.

"Most of my clutch was near the door where the apes had entered and for a moment I thought I had lost them all. All of my children gone in an instant. But then after fighting my way past all of those damn apes I found a single green egg buried underneath the shards of a hundred others. I killed any ape that was stupid enough to come near me. They weren't about to touch my egg. As soon as you were out of danger I tucked you under my wing as I tried to secret you away undetected, and I would have made it had Gual not been waiting outside.

"He used that blasted staff of his to steal my mana. It was a feeling I had never experienced before. The pain as my magic was ripped away from me briefly paralyzed me and I fell immediately to the ground. I tried to cushion the egg as best I could but I lost my grip on it and it rolled away into the night. My head felt fuzzy for a moment, and when I regained consciousness I saw Gual perched over me ready to plunge his blade into my heart. I felt true fear wash over me. It was over, I was going to die. Then I heard a foot soldier cry out , 'General over here!' Gual didn't take his attention off of me for a moment, but he grunted to the smaller ape. 'We got what the Dark Master wanted,' he said, 'this dragon was kind enough to bring it directly to us!' I almost cried as he held up my egg. Gaul turned fully to examine it. For an instant I felt Gaul's attention slip, and I was paralyzed. Fear made my heart pound. I could hear blood rushing in my ears as I tried to decide what to do. In the end I am ashamed to say that fear won out, and I used that moment to escape." Terrador hung his head sadly as he finished.

He stayed that way for a long time. Finally he said, "I failed you, both as a father and as a guardian. I was so afraid of dying I let them have you. I let them curse you and..." he trailed off as he realized that he didn't truly know what Cynder had been through. "I am so sorry my child. Is there any way that you can forgive me?"

Cynder felt overwhelmed. She didn't know how to react to this. On one hand he had abandoned her to the torment that she suffered, but on the other hand she understood why he had done it. She had been motivated by fear before, and she truly understood how it could affect her. In all honesty she was probably the only dragon in the world that could understand Fear.

She didn't know what to do, but thankfully a simple thought in the back of her head made everything a whole lot clearer. If you faced another dragon who you had killed, would you want them to forgive you? It was a great analogy, as both were unthinkable acts, but Cynder was still indecisive. She didn't even know herself if she was worthy of forgiveness, but then she remembered something that Spyro had said to her.

•••

It was just after they had awoken in Avalar and helped drive away the Wyverns. Cynder had been expecting praise and forgiveness, so that they could be on their way to Warfang. Instead they had been forced out of the village and tasked with finding Meadow.

The village chief had been just helpful enough to tell them that Meadow had been seen heading upstream earlier that day, and so Spyro and Cynder followed the river to the head of the valley.

"Why are you moving so slowly?" Spyro complained as the chain nearly pulled him out of the air for a third time.

"I'm not," she protested weakly while drifting to the ground.

Spyro landed lightly beside her. "Okay what's wrong?"

Cynder refused to look at him, choosing instead to gaze back at the village. "You've seen it with Sparx, but I honestly couldn't care about what he thinks, but until now it's never truly hit me how much people treat me differently because I was Cynder, the terror of the skies. I even made them suspicious of you, someone who deserves to be thanked and given the highest honors. Are they right about me?"

Spyro was stunned for a moment, he hadn't realized that all of this bothered Cynder, and he had no idea that she thought so highly of him. He regarded the village for a moment, and then pointed at it with his tail.

"Go attack it." Was all he said.

Cynder just looked at him. "What?"

"They did you wrong. Go attack them. Kill them. Raze the village to the ground. You are definitely powerful enough, we can free Hunter and be on our way to Warfang in a fraction of the time it would take to find Meadow. Go, attack!"

"No," Cynder said, extremely confused. What was Spyro doing.

"Why?" Spyro asked raising his eyebrows. "You are the terror of the skies aren't you? Go destroy them. Why wouldn't you?"

"No!" Cynder shouted angrily. How could Spyro say that? "They may be jerks, but they are innocent and they don't deserve to die. I'm not going to attack them!"

Spyro met Cynder's furious gaze. They stood like that for a moment, and then Spyro smiled. "Exactly!"

"What?" Cynder asked now angry and confused.

"You just proved what I know. You aren't evil, you aren't violent. Cynder I know that you've done horrible things in the past, but they don't matter. You were under Malefor's control. Get over it. You just proved that you aren't going to attack innocent people." Spyro continued to stare into Cynder's eyes until the black dragon looked away.

"But I still did them." She whispered. "That is what they will judge me on."

Spyro was somewhat frustrated now. "Cynder you didn't choose to do them, and that should make all of the difference. I'm sorry people judge you for that, and that they don't know, or refuse to accept, that you are a hero. Fine. Do something that will change their minds. Make them see you as a hero!"

He could see that she still didn't believe him, so he met her eyes and spoke firmly. "Were you given a choice? Because if you weren't, it wasn't your fault. It couldn't have been. If anything it is Malefor's fault, and trust me we _will_ make him pay!"

•••

"...if anything it is Malefor's fault, and trust me, we made him pay." Cynder smiled up at the Earth guardian.

Terrador respectfully bowed his head to the black dragoness. "Thank you, I truly needed to hear that." He shook his head vigorously, as if to clear his head. "I'm not quite sure where to go from here," he admitted, "but I won't pressure you. Take all the time you need to get comfortable with the idea." He smiled at her, but it was a rueful smile, a regretful smile.

"Thank you for telling me all of this," Cynder said as she turned to leave, but before she pushed open the heavy stone door she turned back and before she could change her mind added a final word, "father."

•••

Spyro was hopelessly lost. Again. But it really wasn't his fault. There were thousands of doors leading to thousands of rooms with hundreds of hallways connecting all of it. During his last trip to Warfang he hadn't exactly had time to get a tour of the place. Hell the last time he had seen the Temple it had been missing a tower... and a few walls... and ceilings... and floors... and was on fire. Blame Spyro as much as you want, but the Temple just looked different when it wasn't in the middle of a war zone.

It didn't help that he had gone to a completely different side of the temple to find a safe room where they could sleep without worrying about extremely vague plans that came from suspicious moles. Their new room was on the north side, third floor, and was the ninth room from the left. If there was something that was going to happen tonight then there was no way that anyone could find them. It was like looking for a specific needle inside a sewing shop.

Spyro briefly wondered why there were so many rooms. Surely there couldn't have been this many dragons that were killed in the raids. He quickly tried to do some math. From what Ignitus had told him about dragon breeding, a typical clutch of eggs was between eight and twelve. He knew that his own clutch had been extremely small, with only three eggs, but he assumed that he as the purple dragon was probably to blame. He figured that there were at least two thousand rooms in the temple, and so by dividing by the twelve eggs that was around one hundred and sixty seven clutches of eggs.

Spyro knew that at least eight adult dragons had escaped Malefor's purge, and that a great number had died years before that fighting Malefor the first time. He also knew that there were dragons living in other regions. Ignitus had taught him about a kingdom of Fire dragons living in the western deserts, and about a huge settlement of Ice dragons that had lived in Dante's Freezer before the war had forced them to travel even farther north. But even though he knew all of this, the concept of even one hundred and sixty seven female dragons who were able to lay those eggs was a staggering thought.

Spyro tried not to think about it as he climbed yet another set of stairs. Perhaps he should just try to find Cynder. She was moving, so she might be easier to find than their room. The purple dragon stopped short of the next landing as he heard someone talking.

"I'd like to... I wish I hadn't... no that won't..." Spyro heard a heavy sigh, "what am I going to say? How am I going to apologize?" Spyro was shocked. He knew who the voice belonged to, but he had never heard him sound so forlorn.

He moved from his hiding place. "Apologize to who?"

Sparx whirled around to face his brother. "Oh, Spyro. What are you doing here?" The dragonfly was nervous, Spyro could tell. What was Sparx doing here?

"Oh I was," Spyro said, and then hesitated. He remembered what Cynder had said about the plan, and about how Sparx was involved. "I was... looking for Cynder. She said that she would come back to the room after she was done meeting with the guardians, I even had lunch ready for her, but she must have gotten lost. I was heading back to the room hoping that she was there."

"Spyro," Sparx said raising an eyebrow, "your room is that way." Sparx pointed in the exact opposite direction that Spyro was going.

"I may have gotten lost as well," Spyro said quickly. "What are you doing here? I thought I made my feelings clear earlier." Spyro turned and started walking in the direction Sparx had pointed.

Despite his situation, Sparx couldn't help himself. "Spyro... upstairs..." Spyro glared back at his brother and then altered his path to take him to the staircase. "Look Spyro," Sparx blurted quickly to try and bring the conversation back on track, "I'm sorry. I came back to... apologize to you, and to Cynder if she'll hear me. I was out of line this morning-"

"This morning?" Spyro growled.

"I was out of line this entire time with Cynder." Sparx amended. "I'm sorry Spyro, and I know I was wrong about Cynder. I'm happy for you two, and I want to be a part of your life again."

There was a moment of silence as Spyro took in his brother's apology. "I accept your apology Sparx, but I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

Sparx lit up. "Thanks bro. Now should I guide you to your room or correct you whenever you make a wrong turn?" Spyro rolled his eyes at the bug.

Turns out that Spyro's room was only a staircase and two hallways away. Sparx waited in front of a thick wooden door that looked identical to every other door on the hallway. "Seriously," Spyro cursed, "would a little individuality hurt? A patch of purple paint right there and all of this could be fixed."

Without waiting for his brother's response Spyro opened the door and poked his head inside. To his relief Cynder was laying on the bed finishing off the meal of fish and wild berries that he had brought her.

"Hey Spyro, did you get lost?" Cynder teased as soon as Spyro walked in. "Thanks for lunch by the way. Did you-"

"No I couldn't find you. Sorry!" Spyro interrupted shaking his head. "Look who I found on my way back though," Spyro said before raising his paw and cueing Sparx to come in.

"Oh," Cynder said, thankful that Spyro had cut off her question. But Sparx's entrance had made raised more questions. Didn't Spyro have a falling out with him? Why was he here then?

The little gnat flew over until he was hovering at eye level. "Cynder," he began meeting her eyes, " I am so sorry for everything I've said to you. I was way out of line and I hope you can forgive me."

For the - how many was it? Cynder was beginning to lose count- time that day Cynder was shocked by what Sparx had said. He had been the most consistent stream of verbal abuse since her curse had been broken. She had been honest before when she had said that his opinion didn't bother her, but after a week of constant hurt being constantly poured over her she began to crack. She didn't want to admit it, but there were several times during their adventure that she had wanted to kill the dragonfly.

She wanted to know above all else how honest the guy was being. "Really you think after everything that you have said you can just take it back and we'll be all good? No."

Sparx's glow faded somewhat. "Cynder, I'm sorry that I didn't trust you before. I truly believed I couldn't until just a few days ago. You brought Spyro back home alive. I can't thank you enough for that. This morning..." he bit his lip and looked back at Spyro. "This morning I was so bad because I wasn't sure if you were good enough for my brother. It was stupid I know, but I didn't want him to stay with you out of obligation. Now I realize just how much he loves you. I know now that I was wrong about everything. I'm sorry. Please."

Cynder subtly looked past Sparx to meet Spyro's eyes. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say "it's up to you". Her conversation with Terrador flashed into her mind, and she remembered the logic she had employed. If she was Sparx she would want to be forgiven.

"Sparx, it's fine. I forgive you. Thank you for apologizing." It was as if all of the tension in the room immediately dissolved. In fact Sparx lost so much tension that he flopped out of the air. He caught himself before he hit the ground, but it was too late. Spyro and Cynder both burst out laughing, and despite his embarrassment Sparx couldn't help but laugh as well. Any time any of them stopped, one look at any of the others sent them back into fits of giggles.

"How'd it go with Terrador?" Spyro eventually asked fighting down a laugh.

That sobered Cynder up quickly. She thought for a moment before speaking. "I don't know. It was really awkward, and really I have no idea what we are supposed to do now. I mean it's not like we can just create a father-daughter relationship after all of these years."

"Whoa," Sparx interrupted. "Are you saying that Terrador is your-"

Cynder nodded.

"And do you know who..?" he asked glancing at Spyro.

Spyro nodded. "Ignitus," he answered.

Sparx grinned at both of them. "That is so cool. So what about your mothers? Did you find out about them?"

Cynder glanced at Spyro. It couldn't hurt, could it? "Yeah, the guardians told us about their mates. They have taken shelter in the other dragon temple, the one by the swamp. All four of them, their mates… and their children."

"Wait," Sparx said looking back and forth between the two dragons, "There are other dragons." Then something else occurred to him. "You two have siblings?"

Spyro fell silent. Cynder, however, answered happily. "A sister, Summer."

Sparx turned to Spyro. "And you have..?" He sounded nervous.

"No. But why would I need any other siblings? I have you."


	7. The Factions of Warfang

_Welcome one and all to September! Spyro is back with a new chapter. Yay!_

 _Now before we begin I have a couple of announcements. First, I am working on a new project that I am super excited for, and I am five chapters in already. I hope that next month I can post the first chapter of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Dreamstone **.** If you are a fan, I hope next month to post a chapter of that instead of this. I will try and alternate stories to not only give me more time between chapters, but to also give everyone more content. _

_Anyways, lets chapter. Hobey-ho lets go!_

* * *

Later that evening Spyro and Cynder went down to the library together. The way that Cynder put it, "If this is the last night in the city, we should do all of the research we can while we have access to such a great library." Spyro wasn't so thrilled about hitting the books, but he wanted to spend time with Cynder, so he went anyway.

Sparx thankfully left without prompting, claiming that he had a job to get to. Spyro didn't buy it, but he was leaving so he didn't argue. Despite his apology both dragons were still extremely wary of the dragonfly. He was still supposedly part of the secret plan after all.

As Spyro had suspected Cynder already knew her way around the temple. It took just a few moments for Cynder to lead Spyro directly to the library. The purple dragon was a bit jealous of her sense of direction, although he knew he only had himself to blame. Sparx had always had an almost magical sense of direction, and so Spyro just let him lead him wherever. Now, Spyro thought, at least I have Cynder to show me where to go.

Melody was still working when they arrived at the library. She was again pouring over a thick book with her silver spectacles perched on the end of her nose. Cynder swiftly reached over the desk and grabbed two of the orange gems. Melody barely looked up, and when she saw it was Cynder she just waved her hand and went back to her book. Spyro was certain that she hadn't even seen him.

Cynder quickly explained how the orange crystals worked, and warned him that it was always a good idea to hold onto a book even if he wasn't going to read it. "Trust me the buzzing will make you crazy if you don't have a book," Cynder said.

There wasn't much that Cynder wanted to research. She wanted to know about the shadow element, draconian genetics, and a bit about psychology and sociology. Spyro saw the first heavy tome that Cynder had summoned and immediately moved away to find his own book.

He only really had one thing that he wanted to know, and he wasn't sure that even is this truly colossal library he could find it in a book. He felt extremely silly, but Spyro closed his eyes and called for the book he wanted. _All I want is a book with information about my family, about Ignitus and Amperia._

Spyro waited for a moment, but he didn't hear the rush of a book or feel one bat him in the head after being summoned. He sighed in resignation before a book on the shelf next to him finally managed to pull itself from between the two big volumes it was wedged between and smacked him in the side of the head.

Spyro rubbed the side of his head as he snatched the book out of the air. He had to resist the temptation to tear through it as quickly as possible. Instead he carefully skimmed every page. The first half was terribly boring, and Spyro didn't really care what it said, but his interest increased when he came across a page that simply read "The Guardian's Genealogy". Spyro's hand shook as he turned the pages quickly. Each page was covered in a separate, beautifully illustrated family tree. At the top was a guardian long past, and the book traced their families up until the current generation. Spyro was fascinated, but he didn't want to waste any more time. He flipped quickly to the back of the book.

Volteer was the last tree in the book, which made sense as he was the most recent guardian. Next was Cyril, and then Terrador. Spyro hesitated on Terrador's page before finally finding Ignitus' page. There he was, at the very top of the page. The artist had captured the old Fire drake perfectly, and Spyro smiled at seeing his old mentor and father in his book. He didn't dwell on the image of Ignitus however, as the book had much more important information that he wanted.

Ignitus' name was connected with two lines of gold to Amperia. Spyro felt a tug in his gut as he saw his mother for the first time in his life. She was obviously an electric dragon. She had vivid yellow scales coating her entire body. The spikes along her spine were bright electric blue, and she had stunning blue eyes. The painting showed her laughing, and Spyro felt a longing in his chest to find her and meet her. He wanted to know his mom.

Another golden line dropped down from Ignitus and Amperia that split into three. The first fork led to a perfect portrait of Spyro. He was shocked to see himself, and although he hadn't doubted Ignitus, it was nice to see proof that Ignitus was his father. Spyro smiled at the portrait of himself. He hadn't seen his reflection recently, and so he felt that the picture made him look older and more regal than he actually was.

Spyro followed the other two golden lines. The first ended with a red egg that was covered in gold swirls, while the other showed a yellow and blue egg. The red egg was extremely vivid, and Spyro assumed that that was the egg that Ignitus had dropped in the forest. The yellow egg had faded, and now only looked like a watermark on the page. Spyro shivered as he realized that he had once had siblings, dragon siblings.

Spyro looked up from the book to clear his mind. The first thing he saw was Cynder lying on the ground curled up with a book leaning against her tail. She squinted as she read the tiny print, and she unconsciously mouthed the words as she read. Spyro turned to the Terrador page and set the book on the ground.

"Cynder," he said softly, they were in a library after all, "come and check this out."

Cynder looked up from her book blearily. She didn't like getting interrupted, especially when she was reading, but Spyro did sound really excited. "What is it?" She asked.

"Just look," Spyro said excitedly pushing the book to her. Cynder reluctantly put down her own book and pulled Spyro's book over to her. Spyro lay down next to her so that he could look too.

Cynder didn't know what Spyro had found, but when she saw the painted Terrador on the page she forced herself to take a quick breath. Spyro smiled as Cynder realized what this book could show her.

Cynder moved her claw across the page, tracing the thick golden lines that connected Terrador with his mate. She read the name, Gaea. Cynder's heart pounded as she anticipated the first time she would see her mother. Cynder looked up at her picture and gasped aloud. Spyro peered over her shoulder at the page and instantly understood her surprise. Gaea looked exactly like Cynder's cursed form. The crown-like horns, the long, curving neck... it was all the same except that Gaea's scales were a beautiful emerald color.

It took Cynder a while to tear her eyes away from the beautiful portrait of her mother. Eventually she followed a golden line down to where it split... ten ways. Cynder's stomach fell out. It hadn't ever occurred to her that she might have had siblings. Now she knew that at one point she had had nine brothers and sisters. Terrador had told her that one had survived, but it still hurt.

Two of the golden lines were thicker and bolder than the others. Cynder traced the first with a claw until her talon rested on a perfect portrait of her face. Terrador had been telling the truth, and Cynder felt a burst of pride for being his daughter. Spyro regarded the image and decided that it made Cynder look older than she was, but it seemed to suit her.

Cynder quickly left behind her picture and carefully traced the second line to where she knew she would find her sister. She didn't. Oh sure, "Summer" was written in a flowing golden script, but there was no painting of Cynder's sister.

"What?" Cynder snapped angrily. "Where is her picture? What does my sister look like? Is she dead? Why is her name here without a picture?" Cynder voice rose higher and higher as her anger and anxiety grew. Spyro moved to calm her down, but before he could thick grey sheets of wind exploded from Cynder's form knocking him over and flinging him into a bookshelf. Books were torn from shelves and the unlucky ones were torn in half. The Genealogy book was hurled through the air. It landed directly on the front desk starting Melody from her book.

Spyro stood up from where he had been blown by Cynder. He shook himself off and then ran to the black dragoness. "Cynder, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Cynder just stood there panting. She stared straight ahead, but she didn't really see anything. All of her attention was focused inward where dark thoughts were racing through her head.

She didn't get much time to think though, because a few moments later, Melody found them. "I want you out! Out of my library!" The little mole was standing up as tall as she could. She still only came up to Cynder's chest, but both dragons couldn't help but feel intimidated.

"Sorry ma'am," Spyro intervened trying to diffuse the situation, "we just lost control for a moment. We are so sorry." But the librarian was having none of it.

"Get out!" She shouted admittedly making more noise than Cynder had. "Get out, and believe me I will be talking to the guardians about what happened here!"

Spyro didn't need to be told twice. He quickly lifted the crystal amulet over his head and bolted for the door. Cynder, however, was harder to scare.

"Melody I'm sorry. I lost control of my emotions for a moment. But perhaps you can help me." Melody opened her mouth to tell Cynder to leave, but then she closed it again. It was her job to help people in the library.

Melody sighed as she let her morality and curiosity get the better of her. "What do you want?"

Cynder retrieved the book, and turned to her family tree. She pointed to Summer's name. "Why isn't my sister's picture in this book? Is she..?"

The librarian looked at the book, and then at Cynder. Then she burst out laughing. "Oh, Cynder, were you actually worried? Is this what caused this mess? I helped update this book you know, seventeen years ago. Summer isn't in the book, because nobody around here has ever seen her. We've briefly seen you and Spyro, at least long enough to paint your portraits, but as for Summer... well all we have to go on is that Terrador claims to have a daughter named Summer. I'm sure she's fine. She's probably with Gaea somewhere."

Cynder visibly relaxed as Melody explained. "Thank you," she said happily, "I've lost too many people who are important to me. Now I thought I'd lost someone who I'd never even met."

The mole smiled. "I'm glad I could help sweetie, but please... get out of my library."

Cynder handed Melody her amulet and then ran to find Spyro. It was nearly time for dinner, and then after that (gulp) time for bed. Cynder wanted to believe that she had just overreacted when she had heard the two moles planning, but something told her to brace herself for what was coming.

•••

After a late dinner the two dragons returned to their room for the night. Night had fully set in, and Cynder wanted nothing more than to sit on the balcony and count the billions of stars that she could see on this cloudless night. Her eyes immediately drifted to the new dragon constellation

Both Spyro and Cynder had been taught how to navigate by the stars, but during their second night after saving the world they had both been extremely curious when the stars to the north didn't quite match up to what they remembered. Spyro was the first to recognize what the stars now depicted, which sparked the debate as to who it was supposed to be. Frankly they didn't want to know who it was.

Cynder was snapped from her thoughts as Spyro threw open the window. "Are you ready?" Spyro asked.

"Of course. This is just a precaution after all." Cynder prepared to leap out the window, but then she stopped. "I guess you will have to lead. Where is the room you chose?"

"On the other side of the temple. Just follow me." And with that he leapt from the window, unfurling his great orange wings as he went. Cynder followed a moment later, but not before she closed the window behind her with a flick of her tail. Hopefully this way whoever was after them would have no idea where they had gone.

It was a short flight to their hiding place, and Cynder was grateful for that. Warfang existed in a very mild climate, and for most of the year it stayed relatively warm, but summer was almost over and at night temperatures became a little too cold to be comfortable.

Spyro quietly shut the window as soon as Cynder flew through it. Anticipation boiled in his stomach. Now it was just a waiting game. Something was going to happen, or they were going to feel embarrassed the next morning.

Given the circumstances it was hard for either dragon to fall asleep that night. They were definitely comfortable, but their minds were just too busy to let them fall asleep. It had been a long day, and given everything that had happened and everything that they had learned it was no wonder that they were still awake at midnight.

Cynder gave up on falling asleep. She rolled over underneath Spyro's wing so that she was facing him. Their snouts were inches away from each other, and they gazed into each other's eyes.

"Well hi there," Spyro whispered which set Cynder to laughing, however she made sure to keep her voice down.

"Hi to you too." She whispered back, and then she kissed the tip of his nose. Spyro smiled, and kissed her back, but on the lips. Cynder purred quietly and snuggled closer to Spyro, wrapping all four of her legs around him. He pulled his wings tighter around her as he kissed her again, but unlike before he didn't pull away. They continued to kiss, each of them sinking deeper and deeper into it as they pulled themselves closer together.

Cynder eventually pulled away for air. "This is much better than trying to sleep," she commented. She would have said more, but Spyro began massaging her neck and shoulders. All she managed to get out was a deep purr and half a moan before Spyro recaptured the kiss.

Her purrs and moans became more frequent as he massaged down her back to where her wings met her shoulders. Every once in awhile her wings would jerk open involuntarily as he rubbed an especially sensitive spot. What he wasn't expecting was for her to return the favor.

Spyro jumped in surprise as Cynder back legs sprang into action rubbing and scratching at his lower back. He couldn't help but let out a strangled groan. "Shhh," Cynder admonished playfully as she pressed harder into his back.

They were both in heaven. The rest of the world could have shattered again for all they cared. Their entire world was just the two of them and the connection they felt. They probably could have fallen asleep like that but just as they lay back down with their foreheads pressed together they heard a loud bang echo down the corridor.

Both dragons froze as they listened carefully. They heard soft footsteps and hushed voices. "Clear," a voice called quietly but Spyro and Cynder heard perfectly.

The adolescent dragons rose from the bed, and quietly made their way to the window. All they had to do was leave the room and come back once whoever it was went away. Spyro was just about to open the window when they both heard another sound. One from outside. _Crash_. It was the sound of breaking glass.

"What do we do?" Cynder hissed as quietly as she could. They thought that whoever was after them might search the rooms, but they hadn't expected them to come in from outside either.

"I don't... wait how did you do that invisibility thing earlier?" Cynder couldn't quite see Spyro's expression in the slight amount of light that came in through the window, but she sensed that he had a plan.

"I don't know. I started off using my shadows to hide, but when I was about to be discovered I felt this warm feeling and suddenly I was invisible." _Crash_! _Bang_! Whoever was coming had moved a room closer. "I think I used my light powers, but I don't know how to control them yet."

"What were you thinking when you were about to be discovered? Perhaps you found the emotional trigger for light without realizing it." Cynder realized with a jolt that Spyro had never actually used his light powers before.

"Umm, well I was afraid, and of course I made myself feel isolated so that shadow would work." _Crash_! _Bang_! Cynder was feeling desperate now. It truly was now or never. "I thought of you. Just before I was discovered I thought of you, and then I felt that warm feeling."

Spyro kissed Cynder happily, "Okay so apparently thoughts of me are the trigger. How do you turn yourself invisible?"

"Simple. Just channel the element to your scales and coat them with it." Both dragons relaxed. This was the easy part.

 _Crash!_ _Bang!_ The noise was extremely loud. Whoever it was, they were in the next room.

Cynder closed her eyes and pictured Spyro's face. She pictured everything that they had been through, everything they had shared. She thought about how much he meant to her. In no time at all she felt warmth blossom in her chest. Frantically she drew the power outward until it poured from her skin. It felt like hot water was pouring into her head and drizzling across her scales.

She opened her eyes and found... nothing. She didn't see Spyro anywhere. Before she could say anything, before she could check that she was invisible, the door crashed open and the window shattered.

Torches still burned in the corridor outside of the room, so the mole that had broken down the door was only visible as a silhouette, but something wasn't right about him. Cynder's eyes slowly adjusted to the torchlight as the mole rushed into the room and checked all around the bed, desk, and bookshelf. It took her a minute to realize it, but Cynder realized what the problem was. She still couldn't see him. He was standing within the glow of the torchlight, but she couldn't see him. And it only took her a moment to realize why. Clinging to him like a second skin was a layer of oily, smoky, shadows.

While Cynder had been focused on the mole, Spyro had been studying what came through the window. He reached the same conclusion as Cynder that this must be a shadow creature, but what was it? It was too dark for him to actually see how big it was or what shape it was, although since it did come through the window Spyro reasoned that this creature must have wings.

"This room is clear too." the shadow mole growled. "Where are those two? If we don't find them they could cause problems."

The creature that had come in through the window finally moved forward into the light. Spyro couldn't stop himself from letting out an audible gasp. The window smasher was a dragonfly. The window smasher was a corrupted Sparx.

Thankfully Sparx started talking at that exact moment. "Arrgh," he groaned, "where are you Spyro? You wouldn't just leave I know that!" The dragonfly realized that the mole was just watching him, an amused smile plastered onto his face. "What are you looking at? To the next room you idiot!"

Sparx flew out the window, and the mole, after letting out a few curses under his breath, returned to the hallway. It was a good thing they left. Cynder had tried to remain calm, but she had seen Spyro's form flickering since Sparx had revealed himself. As soon as the creatures had left the room, Spyro's tenuous control of his light element faded completely and he appeared.

Cynder relaxed her control, and a moment later she reappeared as well. Spyro didn't seem to notice. He just sat there looking defeated. "Spyro?" Cynder asked moving around to face him.

Spyro looked up at her, a haunted look in his eyes. His breathing was strangely heavy, and he looked as though he had just been kicked in the gut. "How could Sparx do this?" Cynder flinched. He wasn't shouting, but he definitely wasn't whispering either. "How could Sparx do this?"

Cynder didn't know what to do. Spyro had the exact same defeated demeanor he had when the Dark Master had reasserted his control over her.

She didn't remember everything that had happened, but she did faintly remember, as if through a haze, herself striking him. "Fight back! Why won't you fight back?!" She had said just before she had gone in for the final blow.

"Because you've left me nothing to fight for." The defeated dragon at her feet had said. He had said it so casually, without fear or anger that it had given her dark self pause. Rational thought burst through the dark fog in her mind. Do I really mean that much to him?

This realization managed to do what Cynder had once thought impossible. It broke the lunged, and Spyro tried to dodge, but Cynder got there first. She wrapped him in her wings as they turned from slimy and black to warm and red. "There is always something to fight for," she said as she hugged him. Together they stood up and looked into each other's eyes. They shared a grin, just as they attacked Malefor together.

"Spyro this isn't like last time." Cynder said to the broken dragon. "This time you have something to fight for. Like I said there is always something to fight for." The purple dragon looked up at her, his eyes hardening.

"I'm with you Cynder. But I do wonder... Sparx seemed completely normal this afternoon. I just want to know. How much of it was an act? Did he really apologize, or was it a move he made to gain our trust?" Spyro shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I don't know." Cynder refused to meet Spyro's gaze. "We don't have time right now. We need to move before they come back." She moved to the window, stepping gingerly over the broken glass, and carefully peered outside just in time to see Sparx crash through the neighboring window. "Okay now is our chance. Where should we go?"

Spyro was still standing by the bed. "I'm not leaving. Sparx was right about that much." The door was still yawning open and Spyro unconsciously felt himself moving towards it. "Cynder there are hundreds of innocent apes, cheetahs, and moles in the temple. There are thousands in the city. If we leave then these dark creatures will turn on them. Not only will innocent people suffer, but the dark creatures gain the opportunity to make an army of shadows that will chase us anywhere we go. We have to at least warn them."

"Really," Cynder whined, "I'm glad you are a hero, really. It's one of the things I love about you, but seriously did Ignitus ever teach you about self preservation? Malefor tortured me, and used me to casually destroy civilizations, and even he taught me that much. Look I understand what will happen if we don't save these people, but we can deal with that. Spyro what happens if you try to save these people and are captured? What if you turn into one of these shadow creatures? If the world ends up with another evil purple dragon than it might as well quit turning right now and explode. Spyro I will hate myself if we don't save these people, but I've hated myself before. But I couldn't live with myself if I... if you were corrupted and... I lost you."

This gave the purple dragon pause. He hadn't really considered the stakes. "Cynder I can't just leave these people to..."

Cynder looked extremely distressed. Spyro knew that at any moment she might just bolt out the window. Then it dawned on him. "You are afraid of getting captured too."

It was too much. She had to look away from him. He was so noble, and here she was just thinking about herself. "I've been corrupted by darkness and used to kill countless others. I will do anything to prevent that from happening again."

 _Bang!_ _Crash!_ The dark creatures burst into another room as both dragons became lost in thought. Spyro felt as though someone had grabbed the needle of his moral compass and forcibly spun it around. He had a choice between saving hundreds, but at a personal cost, or he could save someone who he owed his life to a thousand times over. He just didn't know what to do.

Cynder could feel Spyro's indecision, and she did feel bad, but she would rather betray her morals and her reputation if it meant that she wouldn't go back into slavery. "How about this?" Cynder said trying to find a compromise. "We go down to the kitchens, and warn any mole that we meet. They can warn everyone else, and then we can beat a hasty retreat through the skylight in the guardians chambers."

Spyro's heart leapt in his chest. "That's perfect. Let's do this Cynder!"

"Whoa, slow down a minute there. If we are doing this, we are doing this invisibly." Cynder looked Spyro up and down. "We aren't leaving this room until I am one hundred percent sure that you can go invisible without any of that flickering I saw before."

"Gee thanks mom," Spyro protested playfully, "I'm sorry about that. I lost control of myself when I saw Sparx. It won't happen again." As if to prove his point, Spyro closed his eyes and slowly vanished.

Cynder rolled her eyes and moved over to where he had disappeared. She felt around until she had found his front leg. She placed it on her shoulder before she turned invisible. "Squeeze my shoulder if you feel yourself running out of manna, or if you lose control of your power."

Spyro was glad that he was invisible and that Cynder couldn't read his expression. She must have been scared of being controlled by the darkness. Spyro had never heard her this serious.

Thankfully the mole had left the door open because surely someone would have noticed a thick wooden door opening of its own accord. As it was, the two dragons barely managed to avoid detection anyway as a dark mole was barreling down the hallway the moment they decided to flee the room.

Cynder shoved Spyro into the wall and then pressed herself next to him, hoping that the mole wouldn't run into them. He passed maybe an inch away from Cynder's nose, but he didn't notice. Both dragons watched silently as the running mole met up with the other mole that had broken down their door.

"Stop that at once," Runner said earning him a scowl from Door.

"Why should I?" Door retaliated angrily and, Cynder noted, nervously. "Right now finding Spyro and Cynder should be priority number one!"

The runner shook his head. "Not anymore, and besides it's not like they are going anywhere. Spyro wouldn't leave this building for any reason while we are holding hostages. And Cynder won't leave without him. Did your little friend tell you about what they were doing last night."

Cynder cursed Sparx under her breath as a slight, yet invisible, blush crept into her cheeks. Even under the influence of darkness he was still a terrible gossip and he continued to stretch the truth about her.

"Fine," the door breaker conceded. "What are we supposed to do instead?"

"You should go to the library and help out. Apparently fifty unconverted moles have barricaded themselves in the stacks. From what I've heard they have put up quite a defense."

The door smasher nodded. Both moles jumped in fright as a new voice chimed in. "And what am I supposed to do?" Even Cynder jumped as Sparx began speaking. She hadn't anticipated the little pest being there. It unnerved her how stealthy he could be under the influence of darkness.

"You've fallen behind by two rooms," Sparx scolded the door smasher, "good thing they weren't in either of the ones I checked. Hustle up or we are never going to catch them."

"Change of plans," the runner corrected, "there is no need to find Spyro and Cynder. They won't leave the building, and it's not like they can attack us."

"No thank you. I think I'll keep looking for them. Are you coming?" Sparx glared at the door smasher. The runner however interrupted before Door could answer.

"I'm sorry Sparx, but the Master doesn't believe that it is worth it to continue looking for Spyro and Cynder."

Even though they couldn't communicate, Spyro and Cynder were thinking the exact same thing, and it filled their hearts with fear. Master? Oh no.

Sparx turned on the running mole. He flew closer and closer to the mole's face until he was sitting on the mole's nose. The runner went slightly cross-eyed as he tried to retain eye contact with Sparx. "The Master is foolish to abandon the search. He doesn't know those two like I do. Underestimating them and allowing them to roam free makes them dangerous. We can't give them even a tiny chance to undo Master's plans. If we keep them hiding by continuing the search-"

The runner shook his head flinging Sparx off of his nose. "I'm sorry Sparx, but the Master commands that we stop the search. In fact he asked that you come to him. If you know as much about those two as you claim, he wants to know more about them."

Sparx crossed his arms stubbornly before shaking his head. "Fine, but I am going to inform the Master that he is making a mistake." Sparx flew down the hall towards where Spyro and Cynder were hiding. The pressed themselves up against the wall again and waited for him to pass. "I bet it wouldn't be so bad if I looked into a couple of rooms on my way there," they heard him grumble as he flew past.

"Dragonflies," the runner said to door smasher, "they are definitely more trouble than they're worth!" And with that the two moles turned and started down the hallway.

The two hidden dragons sat there for a moment holding their breath just to be sure that they were alone. Then they both let out a sigh of relief. Spyro hesitated for a moment and then he squeezed Cynder's shoulder. She quickly led him back into their room where they both stopped their invisibility.

"Sorry I lost focus there for a minute. I caught myself, but then it was really hard to keep the power stable. I was about a minute away from turning into a ball of light."

Cynder nodded dismissively. She wasn't going to admit it, but she had almost let her power go as well. In fact she was fairly certain that she had blipped into the visible spectrum for an instant when she had heard…

"The Master." Cynder finally said nervously. "You don't think that it's...?"

"No," Spyro said quickly (perhaps too quickly), "he has to be dead. We saw him die. There is no way he could have survived that."

"I guess so. But then who do you think is...?"

"I don't know. Perhaps one of the guardians got corrupted accidentally and the other dark creatures are following him simply because he is powerful and a dragon. That would explain a lot." Spyro was obviously trying to reassure himself, but Cynder didn't bring it up. She wanted Spyro to be right too.

"To the kitchens then? Are you ready to go invisible again?"

Spyro nodded solemnly knowing that he was not only losing the safety net of this hiding place, but also his last chance to escape. He moved forward and put his paw on Cynder's shoulder. They simultaneously vanished leaving the room for good.

Thankfully there didn't seem to be many dark creatures roaming the halls, probably because the Master whoever that was had ended the search. Despite this both dragons stayed super focused on maintaining their invisibility and keeping their senses open just in case.

One drawback to being invisible, they discovered, was that they couldn't quite see where any of their body parts were. They often sent loose stones skittering across the floor due to a careless footfall. Spyro accidentally hit an open door with his tail as they walked causing it to slam loudly. They froze there for what felt like an eternity, but quickly moved on when they didn't hear any footsteps.

Eventually they reached the bowels of the temple. The stone passageways that the moles were so comfortable in criss-crossed through the bedrock that the entire city was built on. Cynder hesitated once they had made it here. She really hadn't been paying attention when Mortimer had dragged her through here and he had brought her from another direction. Cynder wasn't certain that she could navigate through here.

The kitchen was underground in the exact center of the temple, so Cynder turned toward where she knew the center was. Then she remembered that the door to the kitchen was disguised.

Spyro's claws dug into Cynder's shoulder as he gave it a firm squeeze. Cynder moved into a discreet corner of the room before becoming visible again. Spyro followed suit an instant later.

"I'm sorry, one second," he whispered shaking his head. "I've gotta say Cynder I have no idea how you do this for as long as you do."

Cynder shrugged off his praise. "It's extremely similar to using my shadow power, and you know how long I can hold that. I'm used to it and I've practiced it a lot. Listen I may have a problem. I don't know how to get to the kitchen from here, and the doors are hidden."

"Well if that's all there is, I can help. The walls are stone. Earth. I can use my power to..." he paused as he tried to find the right words, "I guess the best way to describe it is sense, but it's really more of an echolocation." Cynder raised an eyebrow at him, and he tried to explain. "Terrador taught me how to do it. I just send pulses of my earth magic into the ground. Wherever there is stone it should be able to travel. The kitchen however is a huge empty space. Hopefully if we get close enough I should be able to see my magic deflect around it."

"But what about the door? I'm not sure if it is possible to open it from the outside."

"I can use my Earth magic to open it." Spyro paused biting his lip. "I'm not sure though if I can look for the room and be invisible. The sensing thing will take a lot of concentration." Spyro blinked suddenly as a thought struck him. "Wait you are Terrador's daughter. You should be able to do this too."

Cynder shook her head. "No I can't. Malefor corrupted me. I don't have Earth power, just the unnatural powers that Malefor gave me."

"What about Wind?" Spyro asked cocking his head.

"You just said it yourself. Wind, not Earth." Cynder was really starting to get upset.

Spyro looked around carefully making sure that there was nobody nearby before he spat a glowing ball of green energy into the middle of the room. Cynder stared mystified as a huge tornado rose up from where the ball had landed. The cyclone only lasted for a minute before the winds dissipated, but it left Cynder breathless.

"That is one of the first things Terrador taught me. Wind is just an extension of Earth. Cynder there is Earth power deep inside of you somewhere. You just have to find it."

Cynder didn't know what to say. This had never occurred to her. She didn't think that she could deal with it right now, so she moved on. "If we want to get to the kitchen sometime tonight we should move. Let's go!"

If Spyro was affected by the sudden change in subject, he didn't show it. Instead he closed his eyes and began searching using his magic. Cynder knew it was almost certainly just her imagination, but she could have sworn that she could feel the pulses of magic that Spyro was pouring into the stone floor.

Slowly, much like a bloodhound picking up a scent, Spyro paced around the room. He paused occasionally, pouring more Earth magic into the stone to get an even better look at whatever he was focused on. He circled the room until he was facing the passage that ran north. Without pausing in the slightest he started off down the hallway leaving Cynder to awkwardly scramble after him.

Cynder knew that it was her job to keep watch and protect Spyro, but she couldn't help but watch him closely as he wandered through the hallways searching with his magic. It had never occurred to her, even when Terrador had claimed her as his daughter that she might have power over Earth. It excited her now to know that there was an aspect of her power that she hadn't explored yet.

Nothing bothered them as they made their way through the labyrinth of tunnels underneath the Dragon Temple. Everything was silent, but Cynder didn't let her guard down for a moment.

Eventually Spyro stopped, directly facing a featureless stone wall... exactly like literally every other wall in the tunnels. "Here," he said proudly, "the kitchen should be just through here." Spyro closed his eyes again, but this time he raised his front end off of the ground. He sat back on his haunches, using his tail to keep himself stable. He wobbled uncertainly for a moment, but quickly focused.

He raised both paws up so that he looked like he was leaning against an invisible wall. Cynder knew for certain this time that she felt the blast of magic as Spyro began to tense his muscles and "pushed" against the air. It actually looked like a struggle, and Cynder grew understandably concerned for a moment, but then the stone wall began to move.

It seemed to crack at first, but then it began to bulge. The stone door slowly screeched open as Spyro continued to push. Cynder instinctively covered her ears. How could she have forgotten? Amid all of the noise that the bustling kitchen produced she hadn't noticed how much noise the door had made. Oops.

As the door finally swung open it was obvious how Spyro had opened the door. Fingers of rock projected out of the floor and the space behind the hinges, and they were still steadily growing as Spyro pushed. Dark green light swirled around the bases of the rock spires, and they groaned as they grew.

"You could have warned me that the door was going to make that much noise," Spyro said as he relaxed, settling back down onto all four paws. With an audible snap, the spires of rock shot back into the stone around was left to show that they were even there except for a few small scars in the walls and floor.

As the door opened Cynder was glad to see that the kitchen was bustling along like nothing was wrong. At first she was suspicious, but then she realized that to these moles, nothing _was_ wrong. She didn't know exactly what time it was, but her internal clock told her that it was sometime between three and four in the morning. Since they had been in what was essentially a sealed room this early they had missed everything that had happened overnight. A small part of Cynder hated that they were about to destroy their ignorance.

Several cooks shot the two dragons dirty looks as they rushed through the door. Cynder figured that it was probably because of how they had opened the door rather than their presence. Cynder hopped impatiently from foot to foot as she waited for the giant stone door to close. Thankfully this door didn't have a wooden mole door built into the base. If anyone had heard it open and had come to investigate they would have had to find their way around to another entrance.

"What are you guys doing here this early?" A voice asked. Apparently Cynder was still a bit tense, because she leapt about a foot in the air. That was nothing compared to Spyro. The purple dragon was so high-strung that at the sound of the voice he whirled around and spat a ball of fire from his mouth.

Mortimer's eyes went wide as the burning projectile flew towards him. He barely managed to dodge out of the way of the fireball. It flew past him, missing him by inches and searing all of the fur on the left side of his body, and smashed into the spit of meat that was roasting over the central fire pit. The fire immediately flared up, incinerating the meat and destroying the spit that it rested on.

"What was that for?!" Mortimer shouted at Spyro. Spyro at least had the decency to look embarrassed before he realized that there was no time for embarrassment.

"Sorry," Spyro said quickly, "listen Mortimer, we have a bit of a situation." Before the purple dragon could say anything else, a knocking came from the Earth door, the same door Spyro and Cynder had come through.

"Hold that thought Spyro," Mortimer said moving to open the door. He found his path blocked however by one vicious dragoness. "Whoa Cynder, what's going on?"

"You can't open that door!" Spyro shouted.

"Why not?" Mortimer asked.

"It's really hard to explain, but do you know about that dark crystal over by the city gates?"

"Yeah. The guardians put up defenses to protect us."

Spyro nodded. "I don't know what happened, but somehow the defenses failed and the creatures that were corrupted by the crystal are loose in the Temple. They want to capture the rest of you and corrupt you as well!"

Mortimer looked skeptical. "Okay. Shouldn't we go tell the guardians?"

"We can't," Cynder said, "we heard some of those creatures talking, and we think that one of the guardians is helping them."

Mortimer looked less sure now. He scrunched his eyebrows worriedly. "How do you two know about this?"

"Because they came after us first. They knew that we were their biggest threats, so they came after us. Cynder and I were able to hide, and we heard them talking. They left, but we had to try and warn somebody!"

"Okay, message received! What are you still doing here?" Mortimer was now officially worried. He had come to the same conclusion that Cynder had. If these dark creatures managed to capture and corrupt Spyro or Cynder (or ancestors forbid, both) then they would be unstoppable. Mortimer felt a tingle in his stomach as he realized what He knew what he had to do to protect the city. Priority number one was to get Spyro and Cynder out of the city.

"We need to get you two out. What was your plan? How were you going to get out?" The mole looked back and forth between the two dragons.

"Umm," Spyro said, "we were planning on escaping through the skylight in the guardians' audience chamber."

Mortimer nodded. Both dragons watched as the young mole called out to several of the cooks, including Agatha, and began explaining the situation to them. Within moments, the entire kitchen was buzzing like an overturned beehive. Barricades were placed against the Electricity and Ice doors leaving only the Fire and Earth doors as viable entrances and, as Spyro nervously pointed out, escape routes.

"You did hear us when we said that we came to warn you so that you could get the word out about these dark creatures, right?" Spyro looked around the kitchen looking for an answer as the moles bustled about preparing for war. Nobody answered him. Nobody really seemed to hear him.

Spyro looked over at Cynder who shrugged her shoulders and raised her eyebrows. This was out of their hands now. They were at the mercy of whatever plan the moles concocted.

The dragons moved out of the way into a secluded corner by the central fire pit as they watched the moles scurry around. It was rather impressive. They didn't know what Mortimer had told his fellow kitchen staff, but whatever it was they were committed. They watched as one chef pulled out a drawer of knives and began sharpening each one, even the butter knives, to a lethal point. Pot lids became shields, while the pots themselves were filled with all sorts of boiling concoctions to be poured on unfortunate enemies. Cynder even saw one mole break the leg off of the burning boar and swing it around like a club.

The warmth from the fire began to seep into Spyro and Cynder, and they realized that they could relax in this room. They were laying together amidst a storm of angry moles, and yet the only thing that either could think of was sleep. There were no angry shadow monsters, nor were there any other hazards as far as they could tell. Before either was aware of it, they had both fallen asleep.

•••

"Wake up you two! We are ready!" Cynder blinked as she woke up and found her nose inches away from a pair of golden, reflective, spectacles. Her mind was foggy from sleep, but she recognized Agatha as she slowly stood up.

Spyro was already awake, although he still looked half asleep. His head drooped, and occasionally he yawned widely showing off his back teeth. "Eat up you two," Agatha said pushing plates heaping with food towards the dragons. Cynder bent down to take a bite, but stopped when she finally got a good look at Agatha.

"Umm, what the heck are you wearing?" Agatha had a pot on her head, the handle sticking out to the side. Over her stained apron she had a set of metal pot lids tied together like a breastplate. In one hand she carried a rather large bread knife, and in the other she held a meat tenderizer. Even the rational part of Cynder's mind was intimidated, and Agatha only came up to Cynder's shoulder.

"Oh, this," Agatha looked down, as if she was only just realizing what she was wearing, "well if we have to fight our way out of this room, we might as well have some protection."

"Wait, what is the plan?" Spyro looked like Agatha had just asked him a complicated math question.

"I will tell you when you eat. We are waiting on you ya' know." Spyro looked like he wanted to argue, but he must have realized that it would be an argument he wouldn't win. Obediently Spyro began to eat. "As I was saying," Agatha said once Spyro had taken a few bites, "Mortimer came up with a good plan, we all agreed on it. When all of this blows over I really need to write a letter to the captain of the guard. I-"

"-The plan?" Cynder chimed in trying to keep Agatha on track.

"Oh, of course. Once you are ready, all of us will leave. You two will go out through the Fire door and try to escape. The rest of us will go out the other three doors and try to fight our way through the shadow creatures that have gathered there. We hope that in all of the confusion they won't know where you went."

Spyro shot a glance at Cynder. She knew what he was about to say, but she also knew that he wouldn't listen to her. "Agatha, we're sorry, but we can't ask all of you to risk your lives for us. At least let us fight-"

"-No! No! No! It isn't safe for you here! You need to leave the city."

"But we could-" Spyro tried, but Agatha interrupted him again.

"I'm not arguing this, Spyro!" Agatha almost shouted. "You are going to leave. It is safer for us, and it is safer for you."

Spyro was shocked into silence. He truly didn't know what to say. Agatha turned to leave, but before she could she turned back to look at Spyro. "You two have lived for seventeen years fighting a war you have had no part fighting in. Neither of you have ever had a real parent watching over you to keep you safe. Let me be that parent for tonight. You two need to save yourselves, you need to get out of the city."

Cynder couldn't help but think of her parent. Her father. She was about to flee the city, and she was relying on a bunch of moles to find him and tell him to flee. Hadn't she struggled to forgive him for abandoning her earlier that day?

Spyro turned to Cynder as Agatha left. "Can you believe what she said? Unbelievable! We can help we can-"

And for the third time that morning Spyro was interrupted. "Spyro she wasn't wrong. I know I asked you earlier about self-preservation. I know it is hard, and selfish, but sometimes you have to think about yourself. You are right we can help these people, but it is a fight we will not win. The shadow creatures will capture us and kill us. Wouldn't you rather live to have a chance to save everyone from these creatures?"

Spyro opened his mouth to argue, but he closed it. He turned back to his breakfast and ate it without a word. Cynder ate her breakfast as well. She let him stew. She knew that he knew that she was right, but he didn't want to admit it.

The room grew quiet as Spyro and Cynder finished eating. Everyone held their makeshift weapons at the ready. There was a nervous tension in the air. This was it.

From the middle of the group that was gathered by the Ice doors, a single iron pot waded through its brethren. After a moment the crowd parted, letting Mortimer walk to the middle of the room where Spyro and Cynder were sitting and observing. The little mole climbed up onto a table and motioned for Spyro to step up next to him.

Cynder shrank back. Nobody would look to her as inspiration, especially when they were facing dark creatures. She was half surprised that nobody had called for her to be thrown out into the corridor to join "her kind". She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice when Spyro called out to her.

"Cynder. Get up here. Come on." Spyro was looking over his shoulder at her. He motioned her up with his tail.

She shook her head. "No Spyro. I'd rather not." She backed away.

Spyro got off of the table. "Remember what I said about making people see you as a hero? This time I'm right!" He grabbed Cynder's paw and began dragging her toward the table. He pulled her up onto the table, and then promptly let go. She wanted to snap at him, she was not okay with anybody grabbing her, but she knew that wouldn't go over well.

She gazed nervously out at the crowd as Mortimer began to speak. "Warfang was meant to be a gift. A gift to the greatest of dragons. They did so much for us; they defended us, they taught us, and they used their great elemental power to influence nature to help us. It was a great gift, to the greatest of friends. Then our home, our great gift, was attacked. It was threatened by a great evil that hoped to undo everything good that had worked for. And what did we do? With the help of these two dragons we were able to turn back this evil. Now, when we are facing an even greater evil, a plague of darkness that corrupts everything it touches, these dragons have once again come to rescue us. The darkness came after them first. They could have run, they could have left our city and never looked back, but they came here to warn us. They gave us a chance to escape and fight another day. Somehow I know that day will soon come. A day when we will have the chance to take back our city and defeat this evil once and for all."

Mortimer thrust his knife into the air and cried out, "For Spyro and Cynder!"

"For Spyro and Cynder," the room cheered. The gathered chefs and cooks, people who had no combat experience, who were dressed in armor made of kitchenware, who were brandishing makeshift weapons, began to applaud the two dragons before them as they readied for war. Cynder had briefly wondered what had kept the moles so cheery during the siege of Warfang, and now she had her answer. These people were so brave and now she knew that as long as they had hope and something to fight for, these moles would gives their lives to see it through.

"Alright everyone into position," Mortimer called over the applause, "on my signal we go!"

It took Cynder a moment to recognize that it was time for her to get to the Fire door. There was a flurry of noise and movement as everyone rushed to their place. A few last minute hugs were shared. Family called to one another, potentially for the last time.

"Now!" The three groups of fighters surged forward pushing the great doors open. And then all hell broke loose.

The dark creatures were ready.

As soon as the Earth door cracked open, a darkened ape charged through the door leading with his shoulder. Moles were flung aside as he pushed through them. The Electricity door was suddenly pulled open from the outside. Half of the group of defenders charged through it before they realized their mistake. Before they could turn back the doors slammed shut again.

At the Ice door a ton of corrupted moles, sporting real weapons and armor, poured through into the kitchen. Armor screeched as weapons scraped against it, and on both sides moles began to fall.

Spyro and Cynder stood frozen as they watched the battle unfold. They had opened their door when Mortimer had given the signal, but they never went through it. They were captivated by the battle. Cynder felt Spyro tense next to her. She knew what he was about to do next. She shot her tail out in front of him, blocking his way. "Spyro you can't help! We need to go." She herded him back through the door, but a sudden cry made her turn back to the fight.

Agatha had been pinned into a corner by a much larger mole. He stood about a head taller than her, his axe raised above his head. Agatha dove between his legs, rolling to her feet. She stabbed at his back, but he turned at the last minute sending her knife skittering across his armor.

The dark mole roared in frustration. He swung his giant axe, but Agatha dodged back. The mole tried to stop his swing, but the momentum of the swing sank the head of the axe almost a foot into the stone wall. Cynder's heart pounded. If he could do that to stone, what would he do to Agatha?

Agatha took the opportunity. She dropped her knife and gripped her meat tenderizer with both hands. She swung with everything she had, and smashed the hammer into the mole's snout. Even with the noise of the battle Cynder could hear the sickening snap of the mole's jaw and nose.

The dark mole roared in pain. He ripped his axe from the wall and slammed it into Agatha. She flew back crashing into a table, her pot helmet spinning off into the fire pit. The shadow creature stood over her, raising its axe again in order to deliver the final blow. Agatha just lay there paralyzed by fear and stunned with pain.

"No," Cynder cried as the axe began to fall. Agatha couldn't die! She felt a tug in her stomach as she felt the need to protect Agatha.

Suddenly the mole was thrown aside as a fist of stone shot from the floor. It struck him just under his chin, lifting him clear up off of the floor. He crashed to the floor unconscious.

Cynder stood there shocked for a moment before she felt herself being dragged through the door. She met eyes with Agatha just before the door slammed shut.

"Come on Cynder," Spyro said, although Cynder could tell that he wanted to go back and fight.

"What about Agatha," Cynder shouted struggling against Spyro, "you saved her with that rock, and then you just left her?!"

Spyro stopped trying to drag Cynder away from the kitchen. He raised an eyebrow at her. "I never used my power in there. What rock?" Cynder explained what she had seen, and despite everything Spyro couldn't help but smile. "I didn't do it Cynder, you did. Looks like you do have Earth power. Now come on. Who knows how long it will take for the shadow creatures to reach the audience chamber."

The two dragons started up the steep staircase that would take them to the guardian's chambers and potentially their way out. It was entirely possible that they wouldn't encounter anyone, but they both knew that even with the best of luck they weren't going to be able to leave without a fight.

The great door hung open, but just slightly, like someone had wanted it closed but were afraid of getting locked in. Spyro felt anticipation and fear boiling in his stomach as he stood just outside the door.

He peered through the crack, but the room beyond was pitch-black. Spyro took a deep breath to calm himself before pressing his shoulder into the door and heaving it open. There was something unnatural about the darkness in the room. There were several torches in the hallway, all shedding light into this room, but at the threshold the light seemed to stop. The room refused to illuminate.

Cautiously Spyro stepped into the room with Cynder right behind him. Of course he second they made it two steps into the room the door slammed shut behind them, leaving them in total darkness. Spyro tried to fight down his panic, but it was hard. He could have sworn that he heard... things shifting in the darkness. As he relaxed, he conjured some Fire within himself and channeled it to his scales. Immediately he grew warm, even hot, to the touch and he let off a subtle glow.

Cynder moved a little closer to Spyro. Warmth and light was much better than the cold, dark room that they were in. "We should go," she whispered. She didn't know why she was whispering. It just felt right.

"We will, but I can't find the skylight, and I'd rather not determine this with trial and error. I will only slam my head into the ceiling once." Cynder looked up at the ceiling and realized that she couldn't even see the stars. What was going on?

Then suddenly there was light. The torches nearest to the doors flared to life. The ones next to them sparked a moment later, and the next a moment after that. Torches burst into flame right after another in a huge chain reaction until the final torch exploded to life. Spyro blinked in the sudden light, but his instincts kicked in, and he was in a defensive position back-to-back with Cynder before he knew it.

The first thing either of them saw was the dark creatures. They lined the walls creating a ring around the two young dragons. There were representatives of every species: ape, cheetah, wolf, and so many moles. Cynder recognized her friends, goatee and blue-eyes, while Spyro focused instantly on Sparx. But naturally their attention eventually fixed on the other dragon.

"I thought that you'd never arrive," Terrador said with a pleasant smile.

It was like someone had cut the bottom of Spyro's stomach out. If the dark creatures had turned Terrador, then nobody was safe. But it was definitely worse than that. Much worse. Terrador didn't have a layer of smoky, oily, shadows clinging to his scales. Was it possible that Terrador wasn't corrupted and yet was still doing this?

"I hate you!" Cynder screamed at the larger dragon. Tears blurred her vision and burned her throat, but she wasn't done. "I can't believe I was actually proud to be your daughter earlier! And you dared to ask for my forgiveness! Was that all an act? Was it just to defuse suspicion?" She didn't wait for an answer. Before Spyro could stop her she hurled herself at the larger dragon. Venom boiled in her blood and sizzled across her fangs and talons.

Just as she was about to tear through the older dragon's throat, a wall of stone appeared out of nowhere and Cynder smashed into it full speed. She slumped to the ground at its base, sobbing from anger and betrayal. Spyro rushed to her side and stood over her. He was going to protect her.

"Oh don't be so dramatic," Terrador said rolling his eyes, "I wasn't exerting my complete control over him this morning. Terrador was very much Terrador when he asked for forgiveness." The green dragon's eyes focused on Spyro. "And the same goes for Sparx. His apology was real."

Spyro hoped that it wasn't obvious, but he knew that he physically relaxed when Terrador admitted this. Terrador obviously noticed it, though. "I see that this was bothering you. I must make a note of this. Who knew that it was this easy to upset the purple dragon."

A great rage filled Spyro's heart. His scales began to glow with heat as his Fire grew within him. But the Fire flickered and died as Spyro remembered what Terrador had said. "You said that you exerted your will over Terrador. You say that like... you... are you..."

Terrador rolled his eyes once more. "I would have thought that either of you would have figured it out by now. No? Fine, allow me to enlighten you."

His moved his paw to his throat,and Spyro noticed an amulet made from a strangely heart shaped chunk of the dark crystal. It reminded Spyro of the orange crystals from the library, but he had a feeling that this crystal wasn't just for moving books.

As soon as Terrador's paw made contact with the twisted black heart, dark black smoke began to pour from the amulet. It looked like gathering storm clouds, only faster. The smoke spread across Terrador's body, eclipsing his green scales with blackness. The shadowy smoke swirled in a cocoon like mass around the Earth dragon as it finally consumed his tail.

Then everything stopped. It all stopped. The smoke stopped swirling. It just hung in the air, eerily still, and Spyro had to take a moment to check whether he had accidentally activated dragon time. Like a vacuum, the smoke was suddenly sucked inward into Terrador's body. The guardian was revealed once again, but everything was drastically different.

The green scales were still there, but they looked sickly. If a scale color was assigned to Cynder's poison ability it would look like those scales. It took Spyro a moment to realize what was going on. It was almost like they were looking at Terrador through a pane of purple glass. Nearer to his head, the purple color became clearer, more defined. By the time they reached his head his scales had lost all of the green color and were just purple.

That wasn't the only difference. Terrador's two horns had vanished, to be replaced with three prominent ones and a host of lesser ones. Glowing, yellow, reptilian, eyes glowed within a face cursed with a permanent scowl.

Spyro felt his knees turn to jelly as he beheld his greatest enemy once again. "How?" was all that he could manage.

Malefor laughed. "How indeed. Those petty Ancestors could only destroy my body." Malefor chuckled, a sound that turned Spyro's blood to ice. "My spirit, however… Well the Planet Crystal was the perfect conduit for my soul and my power."

Spyro backed away from the dark dragon. No this couldn't be happening! They had done everything. They had sacrificed so much to defeat Malefor, and it was all for nothing.

"Why are you doing this!" Cynder screamed again. She got to her feet and was about to pounce on Terrador/Malefor but Spyro held her back. "I hate you!" Spyro didn't know if she was talking to him, Terrador, or Malefor.

"Cynder stop we have to get out of here!"

"How?" she shrieked.

"Yes, Spyro, how do you plan on escaping?" From all around the room came the sounds of bowstrings. Spyro looked around to see the apes, moles, and cheetahs all outfitted with bows and arrows. "You will never leave this room alive. Just submit, welcome in the darkness, and I promise this war will be over."

Spyro opened his mouth to answer, but Cynder beat him to it. "NEVER." Her voice was strained yet controlled. Spyro looked back and found her floating in the air. Grey-green light flickered around her and held her aloft. Her eyes were closed and as she spoke her mouth didn't seem to move. In fact her voice seemed to emanate from the bricks, mortar, and stone that the room was constructed from. "We will never join you! I will give you one chance to leave peacefully and free these people. If you don't I will destroy you, permanently, forever!"

"Fire!" Malefor called to the creatures in the room. Thirty bow strings twanged and thirty arrows shot towards the two dragons. Spyro threw his wings up for protection, but he didn't need to.

The room seemed to explode as Cynder unleashed her power. Grey sheets of wind swirled around her body, spinning faster and faster as they moved farther and farther from her body. The arrows were knocked out of the air and thrown to the ground. Most, if not all, of the shadow creatures lost their balance, and half of them were knocked over. They spun into the others until Malefor's entire army was tumbling along on the floor. Even the great dragon staggered a bit.

The wind didn't seem to affect Spyro. He could feel the energy that Cynder was using, and he also knew that it wouldn't last much longer. "Malefor isn't going to let us leave anytime soon, and we both know that you can't keep this up much longer. What is the plan?" Cynder opened her eyes and slammed into the ground. A shockwave of wind expelled out around her.

The shock wave passed over everything and slammed into the wall with the force of a fully grown dragon. The torches lining the walls were snuffed out instantly plunging the room into total darkness. But Cynder was still in control of the winds.

The shock wave reflected back from the walls converging on Cynder. She used the last bit of her mana and created a vortex. The shockwave of air began to spin, growing taller and taller, spinning faster and faster. Cynder weakly spread her wings and was immediately caught up in the rapidly rising air. Spyro was right behind her.

The glass roof rushed at them at what felt like the speed of sound. Cynder lowered her head, smashing through the thick glass like it was paper. And then they were free. They flew over the walls of the city, their wings burning with the speed of their flight. Neither of them cared though, if they thought of quitting all they had to do was imagine Malefor chasing them.

Miles away from the city, as the two dragons crossed into the swamp they relaxed their pace. "My parent's house isn't far from here," Spyro called, "we can stop there for tonight and rest-"

Suddenly a dark form darted in front of Spyro. The purple dragon reeled back in surprise, his body reacting instinctively. Cynder saw what was about to happen. She cried out in alarm, but she was too late to do anything. She was powerless to do anything but watch as a beam of light fired from Spyro's mouth slamming into the tiny figure of Sparx.

There was a loud snap as his tiny little body broke. Spyro could only watch as his shattered form fell hundreds of feet to the swamp far below.


	8. An announcement

_Hello everyone, Slink here. So I know you all have plenty of questions about what I have been doing with this story for the past few months, and I am running a little behind schedule so I wanted to take a moment and explain._

 _The first question that probably comes to mind is, "What did you do to chapter 8?" Well that is most of the problem. Shortly after finishing chapter 10 (around the same time that I posted chapter 8), I looked back over my work and decided that it really didn't meet my expectations. There were plot threads that didn't go anywhere, characters that were useless or didn't act realistically, and the overall quality of the writing was far below my current standard. So now I am rewriting chapters 8, 9, and 10 as well as adding another chapter so that there is a better flow overall._

 _So now you know what I am doing. "So when will the new chapter 8 go up?" Well that is the thing. Chapter 8 redux is almost done (only 300-400 words left before I can be done) but I obviously haven't started on chapters 9, 10, or 11. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I try to stay ahead of the story by 2 or 3 chapters so that if I fall behind I have chapters to provide in the meantime, but since I lost chapters 9 and 10…_

" _So will this story go on a temporary hiatus?" NO! There is nothing I hate more than a story that goes on hiatus, because in my experience they never come out. I promise that once September rolls around again I will work double time on Spyro (I hope) and I will publish chapter 8 redux as soon as it is finished._

 _I understand that this is frustrating, but I have odd ebbs and flows to my writing. For example my other story (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Dreamstone go check it out!) is approaching a three chapter story arc that I am very excited about, but once I finish it I don't have much planned out enough to actually write any other chapters. That would lead to me going back to Spyro and write out what I have there while I rethink Pokemon._

 _Anyway, thank you so much for being patient with me. And no matter what, I will finish this story. Until next time,_

 _Hobey-ho let's go!_


	9. End of the Road

Hello everyone. Seven months ago I put up an update chapter to _The Legend of Spyro: Eclipse_. In it I promised that I would continue to work on the story and that I would post a new chapter whenever it was ready.

Unfortunately I am going to have to break that promise.

There are a few factors that lead to this decision, and it took me a long time to figure out. But I feel like I need to discontinue this story. This will be the last update to _Eclipse_ I make, but not to the story (more on that later).

As you very well know, I have spent the last year working on a different project. I am still extremely passionate about it, and while it may take more than a year for me to complete it, I am still so happy with it. But while I am excited and happy whenever I write for that project, I can't say the same for Spyro.

Don't get me wrong, Spyro was a ton of fun at times, but since it was my first writing project I ever attempted I'm not sure I can defend it. The writing, my characterization, and my plot all feel below where I want my writing to be. Everything about _Eclipse_ is just not up to my standards for the author I want to be now, and I can't see myself getting anything more out of it as it is.

I am sorry to all of you who loved this story, and trust me I do as well. But hope is not lost for you.

If you are following me or this story, keep doing so, and if you only have this thing favorited, follow it. I will not delete this story, so please feel free to keep reading it.

My grand plan, and my end goal is to eventually reboot this story. Like I said last time, come hell or high water I will finish this story. While I finish my other story, I will be working in the background on reconfiguring Spyro. I am going to go back to the drawing board and not completely start over (because I like the concept and the characters) but I will be starting with a blank slate and I will eventually give you guys the version of this story that we all deserve. When that day comes I will update this version of the story first, and then post the new one under the same name.

Feel free to PM or Review if you have any questions, but please no abuse. I am working to make a better product for everyone. Please be kind.

Thank you everyone, hobey-ho lets go!

-Slink

P.S If you like my writing or my storytelling at all, please go and check out my other story _Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Dreamstone._ It has eleven chapters so far but has only a third of the views, reviews, follows, and favorites that this story has.


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